I’ve been seeing it more and more lately. FULL PRICE CASH OFFERS…and I’m not talking about investor offers on properties in disrepair. I’m talking about offers by owner occupants on newly renovated houses and well-maintained homes.
Some markets are heating up – homes in desirable neighborhoods, withall the right upgrades that are priced to sell, do just that. They sell for top dollar in 72 hours or less! So, if you are not sitting on a ton of cash and you need to finance your home purchase (like most people), how do you beat a full price cash offer?
Be quick.
You need an agent who with notify you as soon as the house goes on the market. You need to get in to see the home on the same day that it hits the market. Do not delay and be prepared to make an offer right away.
Be realistic.
If you know the house is priced to sell, don’t play games with your offer. Just because you would like to feel like you are “getting a deal,” does not mean you should risk losing the deal over a couple thousand dollars.
Be aggressive.
Time is of the essence, so make sure your agent writes the offer with a quick response deadline. 24 hours is not too short. If you make a strong offer and the seller wants to sell, they should be able to make up their mind right away. Don’t give them time to receive multiple offers and don’t give them time to have an open house. Have your agent put a timestamp for the response as well, so you are not waiting until 11:59PM for an answer.
Be available.
Should the sellers make a counter offer, you better be available. A counter offer makes the original offer null and void, so you will need to decide whether to accept, reject or counter back. The longer you take to respond, the more time you give other buyers to see the house and make offers.
I am not saying that you should always come in with a strong offer from the beginning. However, when your agent shows you comparable sales, if you determine that the house is priced to sell (or undervalued), you better be ready for the possibility of a multiple offer situation.
I’ve been on both ends of this type of transaction. I’ve had to cancel 16 showings on a home because the first buyer came in with a full price (financed) offer. I then had to handle calls from another agent trying to bring me a full price cash offer, but it was too late, the first offer had been accepted. I’ve had a buyer make a more aggressive offer than she initially planned to start with because we both knew the house would receive multiple offers. We needed to stop the open house from happening and we did just that. We came in strong and got our offer accepted. 17 showings and the open house were cancelled and the listing agent had to fend off multiple calls from agents with cash buyers.
If you snooze you lose. So, be quick, be realistic, be aggressive and be available.