| In many of today's strong real estate markets,
home sellers can expect to receive multiple offers for their
home. Multiple offers are a classic example of economic realities
because they appear when the supply of homes for sale is limited
and the demand for good-condition homes is strong. Sellers
love multiple offers because they push up home prices and
create an opportunity to spark a bidding war. Knowing how
to respond to multiple offers can help you get the best price
and terms for the sale of your home.
How can I make sure my home will
attract multiple offers?
Hit the market at the right price and, assuming your
home is in good condition, multiple offers should come in.
"Sellers see [home prices] are going higher, so they want
to go a little higher. Sometimes it works and sometimes it
doesn't. You can end up having to wait for the market to catch
up with you," says Bob Stallings, broker/owner of RE/MAX Real
Estate Specialists in Long Beach, California.
 Do
I have to accept the offer with the highest price?
No. If you prefer a lower-priced offer, perhaps with a better
qualified buyer or more attractive terms, you can accept that
offer instead. Or you can give counteroffers to one or more
of the buyers. Caution: If you reject a full-priced offer,
you may owe your agent a full commission even if you don't
sell your home.
Being greedy can back-fire. REALTOR®
Rae Wayne of The Bizzy Blondes team with RE/MAX Westside Properties
in Culver City, California, says one seller instructed her
to tell all the buyers' agents that offers would not be considered
until the property had been on the market for one week, unless
the offer was full-price or better. One agent asked to submit
an offer right away, but the sellers, who were hoping for
multiple offers, insisted on waiting until the appointed time.
A week later, that agent was still the only one ready to submit
an offer. "The seller said to me, 'What if we plan a party
and nobody comes?' I said, 'That's the risk you took when
you didn't want to look at this offer four days ago,'" she
says. If you delay, anything can happen, including the buyers
losing interest or offering a lower price.
Can I counter more than one offer?
Yes. However, if you accidentally accept more than
one offer you could be legally obligated to sell your home
to two buyers. For safety's sake, use a standard counteroffer
form that says the counteroffer isn't accepted until it is
signed by the buyer and subsequently accepted by you.
Can I back out of my escrow with
buyer A and accept a new higher offer from buyer B that my
agent just received?
Trying to back out of an escrow is extremely unwise
because an accepted purchase offer is a legal contract and
the buyer can take action to enforce it. "Legally, once you
have signed and agreed to the offer with buyer A, you can't
get out of it. Your only hope would be that the buyer does
an inspection and makes a bunch of requests. You flatly refuse
everything and perhaps the buyer walks away," says Wayne.
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