Top 5 Ways to Get an Offer Accepted

Many buyers don’t know how to react when they find a home they love, submit a good offer, but then find out there are multiple offers on the table. First-time buyers especially want to know how to guarantee that their offer will stay in the running.

Top five ways to get your offer accepted:

1) I research the activity so that you know what is a fair and reasonable price for the home. Be sure to consider those things that might make the home you are considering worth more or less such as updates, lot, and time on the market. I like to show  the history of the property to understand how many times it has been bought or sold. Then make your decision. It is a rule of thumb that homes that are priced fairly will sell for between 95 and 97% of list price.

2) Decide if you really need closing costs. If you are buying a home over $200,000; it is “unusual” to ask for closing cost help. It is done, but if you want a clean offer, leave it out if possible. It you bid $200,000 and ask for $3,000 in closing costs, that is really a $197,000 offer to the seller.

3) Ask the seller what type of closing date and possession work best for them AHEAD of time, especially if you have some flexibility. For example, my buyer wrote an offer in March with a May closing because it worked for them and they knew the sellers hadn’t found a place to move to. How did they know? I asked!

4) Be sure you are pre-approved for the loan and attach that letter to the offer. The more you can put down, the more attractive your offer will look to the seller. It just eases their minds on the financial status of the buyer.

5) Make the time frame to respond to the offer as short as possible but be reasonable. Don’t give the seller several days to decide. Urgency is important to keep other offers coming in while they are considering yours.


These are just a few of the steps I go through with my homebuyers to make sure they get the best value on the homes that they make an offer and the offer gets accepted.  I am looking forward to doing business with you.

Thanks Cindy Marchant for the article.