For Residential Properties, Bidding Wars Are Making a Comeback

Aug. 17, 2011 - PRLog -- No one confuses today's market with the boom years, but in some cities, multiple bids are back.

In Silicon Valley, brokers report seeing as many as 18 offers for a hot house. And in Manhattan and Boston, sellers can expect three to five bids — but only if the property is priced properly.

With a steady drumbeat of downbeat headlines about the housing market, Boston broker Bob Imperato finds multiple offers a little surreal.

"It's always surprising to me, but it does happen," says Imperato, who runs the 11-agent Boston Realty Associates.

The August issue of industry newsletter Real Estate Broker's Insider, provides advice for broker-owners on how to handle the new multiple-bid environment and information to share with agents. This includes:

* Price it right. Overpricing is a near-guarantee that you'll get no offers, and that the listing will get stale. To spark a bidding war, price at or below the market.

* Look for cash. In today's stingy mortgage market, cash offers are the most solid.
Prepare buyers — and buyers' agents — for frustration. If there are multiple bids, there's only one winner.

* Allow counter-offers. Listing agents who receive multiple offers should give buyers the opportunity to make a higher bid. Sounds obvious, but it doesn't always happen.

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