5 Secrets To Get Sellers to Choose Your Bid in a Hot Market

Touring prospective houses can feel like wandering through an infinite, imaginary desert: You’re tired, you’re cranky, and you’re not sure if the experience is EVER. GOING. TO. END.

So when you’ve finally found “The One,” it’s an amazing feeling. You can already picture your first brunch in its adorable breakfast nook.

But wait. Before you summon the moving truck, your dream home’s seller has to pick you, too. Luckily, the key to locking down your ideal abode doesn’t always mean offering the most cash. Here are five ways to tip the odds in your favor.

#1 Negotiate with a Smile

Unlike most commercial real estate transactions, the buying and selling of a home is complicated by all kinds of emotions, explains Sara Benson of Benson Stanley Realty in Chicago. Often, how the seller feels about you can be more important than your money.

“People tend to do business with those they like and trust,” she says.

One of Benson’s favorite examples of this phenomenon occurred when one of her clients was second in line for a home. While the first-place bidders were negotiating their contract, they whipped out a long list of unreasonable demands for the seller.

“This infuriated the homeowner, who finally told them, ‘My property isn’t for sale to you at any price!’” Benson recalls. The seller ended up offering Benson’s clients the house, even though their bid was $10,000 below that of the first buyers.

Lesson learned? “Don’t nitpick over items that are insubstantial, like a torn window screen or a $50 valve on a hot water heater,” says Benson. “This will anger a seller more than anything.” And that, she says, could be a deal breaker.

#2 Get Personal

Bruce Ailion, an agent with RE/MAX in Woodstock, Ga., agrees that profit isn’t always the seller’s primary motivation. He recalls a recent deal in which he was representing an older couple selling their long-time family home.

“We had two offers: one from an investor paying cash, the second from financed first-time buyers.”

Despite Ailion’s recommendations, the sellers chose the first-time buyers, even though the cash offer was higher and would have been a much simpler transaction. Ultimately, what mattered most for Ailion’s clients was to pass their beloved home on to a deserving young family.

#3 Figure Out the Seller's Unique Motivation

Understanding why the sellers have put their home on the market is yet another powerful tool a buyer can bring to the negotiating table, says Ailion.

“Some sellers want a quick sale; others need time to find a home. Some are focused on price, others on certainty,” he says. “There are so many intangibles. It takes a deep understanding to make a good deal for everyone.”

See what information you can glean about the seller — from your agent or even from the seller’s neighbors — to arm yourself with as much information as possible.

“The more flexible a buyer can be on closing and possession, the more likely they’ll be able to negotiate a lower price,” agrees Benson. “They’re giving the seller peace of mind and the comfort of not having to rush out.”

#4 Write a Love Letter

Sometimes, a heartfelt note from a potential buyer can make all the difference, even when the chances seem pretty slim.

Darcey Regan, a Chicago-based HR executive, had already bid on another home when she and her husband stumbled upon a gorgeous old Victorian. Instantly, they were smitten. “I grew up in an old house, and the sellers had done a really great job of maintaining and renovating this one,” she says.

Unfortunately, multiple people had already placed offers on the house, including several developers who were planning to demolish the property. Regan felt her only hope was to write the sellers a letter. In it, she talked about growing up in a similar house, and how much she respected the owners’ efforts to preserve their home.

Within 24 hours, the sellers told her the house was hers. “It turns out they really wanted someone who would keep the house rather than tear it down,” she says.

Though it felt like a long shot, Regan believes her note was successful because it was genuine. Her advice? “Write a letter only if you’re really in love with the house, not because someone told you to.”

#5 Work With a Pro

It also helps to have a knowledgeable, well-respected pro on your side — someone who understands market realities and who will work well with the seller’s agent.

How do you find that seasoned pro with the sterling reputation? “Ask for referrals from your personal and professional network, and interview at least three different [agents] before you choose the one you feel most comfortable working with,” advises Benson.

Residential real estate is a game of both head and heart. Smart buyers who employ both are the ones most likely to win the home of their dreams.

4 Tips for Sellers to Seal the Deal

You want to get the best price for your homes as quickly as possible. Who doesn’t? But how do you entice prospective buyers to seal the deal? Impress potential buyers with these four well-researched real estate tips, and you may impress yourselves with the results.

1. Sales price

A correctly priced house is the key to selling a home. Buyers will be looking for a home to meet their price point and includes their top priorities. In most cases a home listing becomes stale due to improper pricing. A house priced too high may miss potential buyers, which costs time and money. And of, course, you don’t want to price yourself so low that you lose money on the house. You want to seal the deal.

2. Location, location, location

A home in an excellent location sells quicker and for more money. Home buyers seek quality of life in a neighborhood: parks, community pools, gyms and supermarkets close to home. Properties close to mass transportation, highways and fewer traffic zones save time, and they can add a lot of lifestyle convenience. This goes for future resale value, too: a home located a block from a noisy train station will have lower resale potential than one two blocks from a school and park.

3. Fix it up

This is the time to spruce up your house to seal the deal. Odd jobs you’ve put off: do them now. Fix the damaged door hinge, the chipped light switch, and the paint on the garage door. You don’t want a picky buyer to pass on your $300,000 home because they were put off by a spot of peeling paint that made them wonder if anything else is less than tip-top shape. You want to seal the deal instead by doing the little things.

4. Make your home welcoming

Sellers need to present a welcoming atmosphere. This is the best opportunity to showcase the qualities of your home for home buyer viewings so you can seal the deal. Clean up the yard as much as possible. Purchase a nice welcome mat and some potted plants to place around the entrance to the house. If your REALTOR® makes suggestions for staging the home interior—decluttering, moving furniture, maybe painting a wall—heed them. They know what’s selling. And they want no less than that for your home, too.

All sellers want to be able to seal the deal quickly, so that they can move on to their next experience. Following these quick sellers tips can help get that done sooner, rather than later.

In a sellers' market: 3 ways for buyers to win a bidding war

Barely 12 months ago, buyers could confidently peruse piles of listing sheets before making a lowball offer and getting a nice discount off the list price.
Not anymore. Last month, there were about 44% fewer homes on the market in Chicago than in February of last year, according to Midwest Real Estate Data. The city had only a 3.8-month supply of housing units, compared to an 8.9-month supply a year ago.
Surprise: it's a seller's market. And that means many homebuyers are likely to find themselves in a bidding war.
I've seen it more than a few times over the last year. You hunt and you search and you think you've found a winner. You and your agent pour over comps and market stats. You figure out what the seller paid for the home and what they owe on it. Your agent grills the listing agent to find seller hot buttons. You construct the perfect negotiation strategy, and submit your offer, ready to get the deal of a lifetime.
Then you get the call, and hear the crushing news that more buyers are hearing these days: "We have received multiple offers. Please submit your highest and best offer by tomorrow at 5 p.m."
So now what? A good listing agent won't tell you much about the other offer. It could be $20,000 less than yours or $20,000 higher. There could be one other offer or four. You're going to have to put your best foot forward. Here are three tips to help you fight for your new home and win:

#1 Remember: It's not all about money
Sometimes it is about timing. Pick a closing date advantageous to the sellers. Can you close quickly, saving the sellers money? Or can you close later, giving them time to find a new home? Find out what matters to them.
Have your agent select a brief (five days or less) attorney review and inspection period. This will minimize the amount of market time a seller could potentially lose if you were to back out of the contract as a result of something found during the inspection. It will also give the seller more time to confidently search for a new home.
Important: This requires you to have your act together. Who's your inspector? Who's your attorney? Call both of them before you put the contract in so you still have time to do your due diligence. Finally, make a large earnest money deposit - say 5 to 10 percent of price - to show the sellers you're serious. They know a buyer with some skin in the game is less likely to jerk them around and then bail on a contract.

#2 Make the seller like you
An offer with a well-written cover letter stands out, and it never hurts to try to relate to a seller. Are you newlyweds buying your first condo? Are the sellers moving out because they just had their first child and need more space?
Great. Play up the nostalgia. Have your agent tell the sellers a bit about yourself and why you like their property. When evaluating multiple offers as a listing agent, I find this is a nice touch. Agents often fire off contracts with no cover letter and little presentation. This gives the impression that their clients aren't as committed to buying the property, and I'm likely to convey that to a seller.
Then, go back to #1 and make sure your agent emphasizes those points in the cover letter. Tell them what you do for a living and how thoroughly your lender has pre-qualified you (Tip: get thoroughly pre-qualified). Sellers should get the impression that you are a buyer with no potential financing issues who is committed to buying their property.

#3 Pay what the property is worth to you
This one should go without saying, but sometimes buyers get caught up in the emotions of the process. Overpaying for a property isn't winning, and neither is stubbornly sticking to a lowball offer.
Have your agent put together a detailed comparative market analysis to determine the fair market value of the property. From there, as I always say: "add love, subtract fear." It's okay to pay a touch more if you really love the place, especially if you've been looking for awhile. But keep in mind, the property will need to appraise for this price if you're getting financing. And it's okay to bid a bit less if you feel you have other strong options.
I took a buyer to see three condos that each had been on the market for three months. That was a Thursday. My buyer left for the weekend to go skiing. When he came home, all three had offers in on them, and two of them had multiple offers. That's the residential housing market in Chicago right now.
My final word of advice: "buyer be ready." Get all your homework done before you make that offer. If you want to survive in this sellers' market, you have to be ready.