Is The Highest Offer Always The Best Offer?

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar. 21, 2012 - It’s obvious in most circles, the highest bid reaps the rewards. There’s some ambiguity with that philosophy when it comes to selling a home. With many serious buyers now flooding the market, it’s inevitable that some buyers will be simultaneously bidding on the same home. In most cases, these offers will be very competitive with each other and no clear-cut winner among these proposals. There could be such a small separation between each respective offer, that the eventual decision made by the owner, might just be a gut feeling, that’s better than a coin flip. There are instances when the highest offer doesn’t match some of the perks from the lower bid. A home buyer with a home to sell has little leverage when competing with a no contingency buyer. That type of proposal would have to be significantly higher in price to even be considered as a viable offer.

Home sellers have to contemplate other aspects of a contract than just the price. A buyer willing to purchase a home in “as is” condition might be more appealing than a buyer that submits a higher bid that request repairs. An offer with fewer buyer contingencies could be more attractive than an elevated price. The natural inclination is for an owner to look at price first.  if an owner only focuses on the bottom-line, they could be making a huge blunder by overlooking other features in the contract.that could make or break the deal. All of these examples would assume your home receives multiple offers. If you are not one of the fortunate owners that have multiple offers, then as a seller you’re working from some disadvantages during negotiations with the buyer and fastidious bargaining is required.

Let’s assume the homeowner has more than one offer and they have selected the proposal that best fits their terms, timelines and price. With the erratic market being what it is and buyers changing their minds more often than we prefer, it’s valuable to have another party in a backup position. Having a backup offer gives the seller more leverage during tough negotiations with the buyer. The purchase contracts have lots of consumer protection for both buyers and sellers, it’s recommended owners have their real estate representative preview those protections with them before receiving an offer. Knowledge is power and understanding the barriers that can derail the deal is vital. Sometimes the highest offer is not the best offer. Please visit my website www.JohnnyBrooksHomes.com for helpful tips on buying or selling a home, scan my informative blogs, join my professional networks on Twitter and LinkedIn and easy access to view local area homes for sale in Davis, California and the surrounding communities.