While buying your next (or first) home, you may find yourself in a bidding war to win the home of your dreams. Bōde’s industry expert, Co-Founder and VP of Enterprise Sales, Jeff Jackson, shares tips on how to best navigate a bidding war as a buyer, and ultimately how to deal with the major decisions that come along when attempting to come out on top. Just because there is a multiple offer scenario, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the home will sell for over list – however, we are seeing that in some of the current markets this is often the case. It’s important to remember that every market is different and to do your research.
There are several key things to keep in mind when you find yourself in a bidding war situation:
1. Selling your current home (if applicable).
Something to consider before even looking at homes or making an offer is how much your own home sale impacts your ability to purchase another home. What is the value of your current home versus the home you are hoping to purchase and how much extra can you actually, comfortably afford to bid over a listing price. In some cases, you may decide to include the condition of selling your own home in the offer, however keep in mind that this can often be a very difficult condition to have accepted in a multiple offer scenario.
2. Check out current market trends.
Knowing what homes are listed and selling for in your area, as well as looking at current market trends, is a great way to keep yourself informed on what is happening in the home market. This can help inform your decision to buy a home, make an offer and what that offer will be. Try our free tools to look at Market Data, Sold Data and Comparables.
3. Determine your budget.
This may be the most important consideration you have to make when looking to purchase a new home. It’s important to define your limits for how much you are willing to pay for any house you are looking at. What is owning this home worth to you and how much value does the home actually have?
4. Consider conditions.
In this hot sellers market across Canada, we are seeing may offers in the most competitive markets come in with no conditions attached. This includes financing and home inspections. Making an offer without conditions is extremely risky as a buyer. It is absolutely crucial to be confident in the home structure to make an offer without the condition of home inspection. It is also extremely important to be certain you will be able to obtain financing if this is not an included condition of your offer. Buyers who fail to close on a sale after reaching an agreement risk losing their deposit and even potential legal action from the seller.
5. Stand out by telling your story.
We have seen buyers have success with letters and videos to the sellers connecting personally and explaining why they think the house would be a great fit for them. It can be comforting for some sellers to know who will be taking care of their home and making memories after them. Part of the online offer process with the Bōde platform allows adding a note to the seller.
6. Start with your best offer and be prepared to be okay with the outcome.
At the end of the day, there may be buyers who are willing to pay more, risk more, or the seller may prefer another offer over yours. Put your absolute best offer forward from the get go and make sure that if you’re not the successful bidder you’ll be able to sleep at night. Only one offer will be accepted in the sale and there is a potential for disappointment. You need to be okay with losing the house and finding another one that fits your wish list. Believe that if you keep at it, eventually it will happen – you got this!
So… How Do I Find a Home?
On Bōde you can buy any home on realtor.ca without an agent – for free! Our marketplace allows buyers to filter by location, price range, home style, and more. Start browsing and find your perfect home.
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Bōde has created a marketplace to allow you to get transparent home data, set your price, and list your home on MLS (and 30+ more). We will advertise your home and walk you through the whole sale process for 1%, only when the home sells.
With your free Bōde account, you don’t need an agent – you are completely in charge of your home sale and get to keep more of the money you invested in your home!
