Multiple Offers

As most people know there were a lot of house sales in Central Alberta over the past few years. There were ‘bidding wars' over houses because the supply did not match up to the demand. As sales are now back to a normal pace there are fewer multiple offer situations for a sale but they still occur. Houses that are priced right, at a fair market value, or priced below market value are always desirable. These homes are still being bought and are sometimes wanted by more than one family. As a buyer its not a great position to be in but you still have a shot at getting that home. My advice in this situation would be to know your top price you would be willing to pay and make a wise business decision. If you get the home great, if not we find another.

Most people do not know the proper protocol for multiple offers. As soon as the buyer has written an offer on a property the buyers realtor will call the sellers realtors to inform them of the offer. If the sellers realtor is dealing with another offer then he/she must inform all interested parties of all offers. All parties must know that they are in competing offers. This allows all buyers the opportunity to make their best efforts to be the sellers best option. When the sellers realtors receives all offers he/she will sit with his clients and talk about all offers. Price is always one of the top issues but conditions on the sale are always a big hurdle especially if one of the buyers have a home to sell before they can proceed with the purchase of their new home. When the sellers hear all the offers they have a few options.

They can:

• 1) Accept one offer and reject all others
• 2) Accept one offer and accept another offer as a back up
• 3) Counter one offer and set the rest aside until negotiations are final on the first offer
• 4) Reject everything

Rejecting all offers is never a good thing. I always recommend to my clients to work with the offer that shows the best promise.

Things to keep in mind while you are in this situation.

All parties must know of the multiple offers.

All buyers must know there is another offer on the desired home.

Only the seller knows what each offer contains. The other buyer will not know what your offer is.

Multiple offers is a tough situation to be in as a buyer. As I said go with an offer you are comfortable with and see what happens. Always look out for your best interests and never spend more on a property than what you can afford. If you have any questions about multiple offers please call Ken Devoe at 403-350-1192 or email at ken.devoe@century21.ca .

Thanks for reading.