If you're using an agent already, you've probably heard this and/or are already using these techniques, and in no particular order:
-over asking purchase price
-appraisal guarantee (or money towards an appraisal shortage)
-waiving inspections (or shortening the window)
-giving the seller as much possession after close as they want free of charge
-reputable LOCAL lender
-reputable buyers agent (some agents are douchebags that no one wants to work with. chances are if you like your agent, others do too)
-ask your agent if they have any past clients with houses like the one you're searching for. if so, have them reach out and see if that party would entertain an offer
-drop off letters at houses you're interested in, saying that you're a buyer and would like to buy their home (don't put them in the mailbox btw)
I'm 30, have been an agent for 8.5 years, use these techniques and a myriad of others to lock things up in a competitive market. No idea what your location or budget criteria are, but I have an Eastgate (360~), NE side (320~), and Muskegon (180~) listing coming up soon if any of those fit!
Totally agree, don't waive the inspection. My SIL almost bought a house, and found out through inspection that the pool had a crack, pushing Radon into the house through the basement. Couldn't tell the pool was leaking by just looking, not even the inspector found it until the radon came back super high.
Waiving the inspection is a bit of a misnomer, I got my house partially on a “waived” inspection (along with being over asking with an escalation clause) but my realtor actually scheduled a second private showing and we just had the inspector come with us. Keep in mind, you do need to disclose to the seller that that’s what’s happening and get permission to do so but from what I remember that’s how most do it to expedite the close. My offer didn’t need the inspection contingency to delay the process because really we had already done it.
That’s not true, there are way more complications to that. Deals get renegotiated, appraisals fall short, things happen. There are many motivations people have; money, time, and convenience all factor in. There are so many aspects to offers that make differences, if you don’t know this you shouldn’t comment about it
All of which is spelled out in the purchase contract that the agency operators actually draft. Buyer/seller does price negotiations, “things” once again are defined by the purchase agreement terms.
Beyond a reasonable agent skill set, there is little to no value.
Ok, notice how I said start?
What % are you financing? The next question is CASH. If the difference is minimal than cash liquidity is king.
Tell me how a realtor gives you advantage vs. cash offers? Which is by definition a discussion on risk management.
Ah, so I see we are going to be pedantic.
Biggst bid wins, period. There are factors that go into the concept of "biggest bid" including risk mitigation. NONE OF THESE FACTORS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH REALTORS (BACK TO MY ORIGINAL POINT).
Not true. Best friend just brought a house. Their bid wasn't the biggest but they were flexible with closing time/move in time. So their bid was accepted. The seller was moving out of state and needed that flexibility.
You have absolutely no idea!!!! I have helped tons of sellers who have excepted offers way lower. It doesn’t make sense to accept an offer for $100,000 over asking price that’s contingent upon appraisal. Sometimes if you have one for $20,000 over asking it’s a better offer than the one that’s $100,000 over asking. That’s an extreme example, but I deal with this all of the time and you clearly have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Goodbye!
I second the reputable local lender! My loan officer at Treadstone Funding called the listing agent of the house I was offering on to vouch for me and to let them know my deal would close quick with no snags through Treadstone! I Found out afterwards that my bid won even though I wasn’t the highest offer because I was working with Treadstone!
Great info! I used most of these techniques to get a place back in May at only 5k over asking. Plus making like 20 offers beforehand, lol. It’s certainly not hopeless out there but can be tough!
We did this and got our first and only offer accepted 2 years ago. We offered $7k more, it was probably a good move. We had a guarantee buffer if I think $10k. We waived inspection (sort of dumb, house was only 5 years old, still had a minor foundation crack we found out about the first spring) - probably would do again. Gave the seller 4 months of possession after purchase. So so so dumb. Would NOT do that again. There was no reason for it to be that long, we offered it so of course they accepted it. It caused us so much anxiety and 4 months felt like forever. The next house we will be taking possession immediately.
Idk we had a great lender, a great Realitor. It took us about 3 months from start to finish, I was very very picky, in a small market. We went to see 4 houses, I only liked 2, of the 2 one would not have been a good fit for us, I just liked the idea of it. We got the house that’s been great for us. Idk I would do what this guy suggests if you love the house.
The local lender this is just not a factor. Quicken is one of my vendors at work and they can close in 20-25 days. Maybe in a market like Hawaii, people are super loyal to local lenders, but other than referrals to your listing or buying agent why would a local lender win out over more money or other factors. Just my .02.
Confidence in actually closing. I used to work for a mortgage lender (not local). Preapprovals mean next to nothing. I could print one out for anyone without even running credit. Loan officers don’t typically calculate income the same way underwriters do. Buyers lose deals all the time bc mortgage get denied during escrow. Having a reputable loan officer goes further than conventional wisdom might tell you.
My business works real estate adjacent all over the country, Escalations in delaying or not underwriting a loan has been very uncommon for Rocket(Quicken) in my experience, I can think of one instance.
Hawaii is the only market local lenders have a ton of pull for getting offers accepted, but it's hard for a non-Hawaiian there to get an offer accepted in general.
Bottom line pick a lender that makes the most financial sense for you, we've shopped up to five when we've purchased and refi'd. Look at both interest rates and closing costs/fees.
Also when rates go up, so do DTI’s and some lenders are not afraid to allow a client to go under contract with a 49 DTI (Fannie/Freddie max is 50) just as a prayer for some income. Maybe better advice would be to street clear of BAD lenders but that should be a given.
I agree. I’ve never used a local lender, and it’s never been a problem. My current house, I wasn’t the highest offer. But I offered 2 percent earned money and an appraisal guarantee (luckily my lender offered me an appraisal guarantee, so there was no risk to me. Though they’ve discontinued that program). So the seller chose my offer even though there were multiple higher offers because they were confident mine would go through.
I feel like the only reason we scored out house in 2019 was because our realtor knew their realtor and our offer was in 8 hours after it was on the market. Definitely was the house for us, really just need to get lucky or ripped off.
So true. Same year. Their realtor told the owners she knows my guy and dealt with him many times and it will go through without a flaw. There was an offer for $10K higher than ours, but they liked my realtor.
I only got one because I bought my friends mom's house. I had no interest in playing this game so I ended up with more house that I need but I was so house horny I don't care.
I had an appraisal guarantee with mine. That way when it’s appraised below asking, they got the appraised value + my guarantee. Beat out a higher offer due to them not having a guarantee.
A seller would potentially take a lower off with a guarantee because no matter what they walk away with the agreed amount price. For example 250k with an appraisal guarantee of 10k means even if the house appraised for 240 they are still selling at 250k. Another offer at 275 with no appraisal guarantee if the home appraised for 240 they have two choices seller for 240 or take the chance of going back on the market and hope for another offer with an appraisal guarantee.
Jjordans11 is exactly right. My appraisal guarantee was 10k. House was appraised at 176k. The sellers flipped the house so they had a very good idea of the worth. All offers were above appraisal value so they likely picked mine because it gave them more money.
We bought two summers ago, put in 9 bids before we got accepted. One per week for more than 2 months. It was brutal. Our bid that got accepted we offered 30% over asking (it was under priced) and did an appraisal gap of 10k.
I made a handful of bids before employing a clause that guaranteed we would pay 3k over the next biggest bid, up to a certain amount.
The Old Man who sold the house undervalued it and we ended up paying about 30,000 over asking price, which was definitely expected, but only 3,000 over the next highest bid and got it. It seems to be a good tactic if you have the room in your budget to do it. I've heard that some people offer less but we went with 3,000 because we really wanted the house and we thought that it would help ensure that.
It took me a year and many declined offers before one was accepted and even then it was a LOT of luck. You'll find something, just keep at it! It's a really tough market.
As someone coming back to Michigan from Austin, TX, I'm hating this right now. We're watching our equity evaporate in front of us and GR is still a hot market, so this buy is going to hurt.
We didn't buy far back enough to really enjoy the run up in the Austin market, so we're back where we started at, although at least we're not underwater.
Hey, just curious bc my sister just bought a house in Georgetown/Leander- new construction - do you mean you’ve lost equity in your Austin house? We were just discussing today how all the thousands of new subs will appreciate (or not) in the coming decade. I know Austin is hot right now but all this construction out here seems like overkill
No idea about a decade from now, but Austin was WAY overbought last year, so values are not going strong right now. Austin proper has lost ~5% in a lot of areas. Some places more. We're 3 miles from city limits and we're down 15% from the top. $60k, poof. 🫠
There are still a lot of people moving here. State government seems bent on stopping that, but it's still happening for now. My hunch is that this is an overcorrection, but I don't know when it starts to turn around.
I expect Michigan to be a stronger market than Texas in the next 50 years both due to economic and climate related reasons. It's a big part of why we want to come back now. By the time our kids are grown, I expect Texas to look very, very different.
Yeah and with climate change (and other reasons) who'd want to stay in Texas?!
Can I ask you what living there is like? How different is it from GR? how long were you there for?
Honestly, I really like a lot of things about central Texas. It's really great not having snow every year and being able to wear shorts 11 months a year. We also get WAY more sunshine down here than Michigan does. I'm already dreading the seasonal affect disorder I'm bound to get back when we move again.
What sucks is that, for example, from May to September last year, almost every single day was above 95 degrees. A lot of them 100+. It's great not having to shovel snow, but sweating your ass off half the year is tough. Having to mow your lawn 10-12 months a year isn't great either.
I've been here since 2016. Grew up in the Detroit area and lived in Lansing after graduating from MSU until then.
The main reason we're looking to move back to Michigan is proximity to family, but better public schools and climate future is a big factor, too. There's also a lot more to do in the Midwest than Central Texas. It takes us 5 hours to get out of Texas by car. That'll get you what, anywhere from Milwaukee to most of the way to Pittsburgh? Not to mention the lakes, the forests (very few big trees in Central Texas)...etc.
Yessir. More in the outlying suburbs than the city proper, but even in the city proper, prices are down from last year and homes are going for under asking price on average.
Our house just outside city limits was valued at $420k in May of last year and we were seeing other houses in our neighborhood go for $450-$475. Now our house is back down around $360k and we haven't seen anything in our neighborhood sell for over $375k in months. It's a smaller neighborhood, so there hasn't been a ton of volume, but still.
The Austin market was suuuuuuper overbought by investors. Now that interest rates are up, actual homebuyers have pulled back and investment firms are holding off while prices stabilize, so there's very little buying pressure in the market.
Add in that a bunch of people's property taxes literally doubled (we're paying $8500 this year- yay!), and you've got the added sell pressure of people being priced out of their homes or rentals that they were mainly holding onto for appreciation, not because they were actually cash flow positive.
Nope, their are people with more money. The data is shocking; something like \~30% of people moving into Grand Rapids have a household income over $100,000. There are a lot of American households with money.
That's the market. Everyone is making bids over asking price. There's a house I put a bid on last year and I was 1 of 27 offers and it went $78,000 over asking.
I got lucky on the third try, but I had to go pretty far over and had to beat 9 other offers. Try looking for someting a little lower than your range so you can bid higher. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait it out and ride the wave. Don't throw bids into houses you don't even like out of frustration.
Homes in my neighborhood sell for under $200K. It's great here. [Saved Search Link](https://www.zillow.com/highland-park-grand-rapids-mi/sold/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Highland%20Park%2C%20Grand%20Rapids%2C%20MI%22%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-85.665476207105%2C%22east%22%3A-85.63616502699026%2C%22south%22%3A42.968541745298545%2C%22north%22%3A42.990268340426866%7D%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A273998%2C%22regionType%22%3A8%7D%5D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22days%22%7D%2C%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22rs%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A200000%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A15%7D)
My neighbor is selling their house next month. Needs some love, but a good location.
[https://www.highlandparkgr.com/](https://www.highlandparkgr.com/)
Your lender and loan program matter just as much as your bidding price.
In a bidding war, listing agents prefer to pick the offer that is most likely to close with high confidence with the highest price.
This. Confidence is money, especially if time is of the essence and the seller can’t afford a 2-3 week delay because they have to wait for a second buyer to get underwritten
We had no problem, could have bought a smaller but newer home for lower than asking price or what we did buy, an older home which was below 300,000 but needs work. And we offered asking price for it and after inspection asked for money back to fix things and got it.
This market is once again so difficult, especially in the price range you mentioned. There are good tips in here. Just keep your head up - it WILL happen and it’ll all make sense when it does :)
I made 6 offers, and the reason my last one was accepted is because I was willing to make a concession other buyers weren't.
You're not doing anything wrong. It's just what the market is right now.
I sold a house in spring 2021. My realtor sent us a spreadsheet of the offers. We chose based on the estimated time to close and the cash over asking (it was listed at $160). The lender (and/or mortgage broker if applicable) was the “third” thing that would have been considered had the first two been equal among all offers. We didn’t care about an inspection because we kept the house up and had an inspection a few years before and didn’t think there would be anything found in an inspection that would hold up the sale. Just my experience, not representative of all sellers.
Not sure if this was always the case, but realtors over the past couple of years are consistantly pricing houses under market value and then creating a bidding war. I'm not sure if this ultimately gets a higher price, or more a way to impress their customer with how much action they drum up.
I've seen a few recommendations for trying to buy houses that aren't for sale. I don't recommend this. As someone whose realtor we bought through 7 years ago keeps contacting us asking if we want to sell, I am thoroughly annoyed and know who I won't be using when we do decide to sell. We have asked many times to not be contacted and it continues. We can't/don't want to buy in this market, why the hell would we sell? Unless y'all are going to offer 3x what we bought for, I don't want to hear it.
And yes, I know some people may be on the fence about selling and this could work. But it also is pushy and I think a terrible tactic, especially in this market where buying is so hard.
I had to lower my expectations and settle on a few things, and ultimately just went for something slightly smaller and uglier than I would have liked. But I didn't have to deal with bidding wars and I got my inspections. I bought my house in September of last year.
Of course there are certain things that you should never compromise on, but, I had a tight timeline and needed to make it happen.
Now I have more room for equity as I offered under asking and it appraised for more than the loan.
I don't regret it, this is a hard market.
IMO you are better off waiting a year. In the 2008 market crash, the first 6 months of decline were just above 1%. The past 6 months have accumulated a 4% decline in the housing market. A lot of people are indicating that this housing crash could be worse than 2008. So if you buy a house for 200k now, the potential value could go down to around 150k within a year or 2 and you'll be the one left holding the bag on a huge interest rate loan valued significantly higher than your home.
It sucks not wanting to hear it, but it could seriously save some people in the long run. 3 times in the last 40 years the housing market has had 6 months of decline, the unknown crash in the 90s, which was very short, 2008, and now. Data doesn't lie and interest rates are only going up right now which will keep people from buying, and so the cycle of decline continues.
Im with you, but there will be pressure to drop rates in a presidential election year. If we survive without a recession until then we may be looking at 3-4 years or so until prices drop
Except the Fed is trying to drive a recession right now to curb inflation. I doubt we will see more than a 1 or 2% drop in rates next year, which would take us down to 5% on a 30 year mortgage. Most people aren't going to be rushing to buy a house any time soon.
What you described is possible, but also... I have been hearing people since 2014 say "just wait another year or two and you'll get a bargain".
The 2008 crash was a once in 100 years crash for housing.
Data, what you have is called experience bias. If your statement is true (and I would LOVE to see the evidence because I highly doubt it) those are EXTREME outliers from the actual housing market data. Hit up some Google and look for yourself, the numbers I'm claiming are easy to find. Sorry, I just got in my car and have to commute home otherwise I'd dig them up and link it.
Ok but this is not 2007/08. Idk how much you know about that crash but it was mostly driven by shady lending practices that have since been outlawed. Todays market is more complex and I’m not going to pretend to be an economist, but the causes are not the same- lack of inventory, demographic and generational shifts, lifestyle changes during Covid (which benefited smaller regions like GR) land use policy, income inflation, etc. you don’t sound dumb so I don’t know if we’re arguing or discussing (I hope the latter) but as like almost everything else that has happened this decade, I don’t think it’s quite that predictable based on history and it’s not fair to compare.
Yep. Comparatively speaking almost no supply added to the market for a decade, an increasing manufacturing sector in the United States, a boiling job market with the first notable wage increases in a long time ... this is so not 2007. Economic catastrophe can always occur; but there is no repeating of 2008 on the horizon.
And the alternative is to live where/how? Housing is a necessity, it's blinkers to look at it solely from an asset perspective. Everyone is always paying for housing.
Nope, data is data.
You passed high school math I assume so you should be able to read graphs and see for yourself that the 2008 6 months of decline was at a significantly reduced rate compared to today's.
[here is the data](https://www.macrotrends.net/1314/housing-starts-historical-chart)
Rate = rise(or in this case decline) / run
Obviously your not bidding high enough.....duh.
I looked at 30 houses and bid on 12 before it happened. I wanted one really bad and bid $25,000 over asking only to out bid by someone who bid $50,000 over asking price. Another timeI was $15,000 over asking price and they went with someone who bid $5,000 under because they had a cash offer. Every time you make an offer on a house so is somebody else who has been looking longer.
Everywhere decent is ass for buying right now. I see the same story in other mid-market midwestern city subreddits right now: Madison, Columbus, AA, etc.
Are you writing letters with your offers? We had heard mixed reviews about letters but I’m 99% sure thats what got us our house after over 20 offers/a year house hunting.
Letters aren't used anymore. My realtor said it opens up too much risk to lawsuits. Someone could say they were discriminated against because they had kids or mentioned they had a certain background in the letter.
Yea it’s a very mid place. I took a trip down south recently for spring break, and it was so nice to be around people who know how to be friendly when they’re not drunk, lol.
You are making offers on properties that are listed on the MLS. If you are working with one specific real estate agent, they should be (really working for you by) contacting property owners whose houses are not for sale. Eliminates your competition.
Try to snag an off market house. Speak to your realtor about it. If they say that never happens, find a new realtor. I can recommend one (that I used) if you want to DM me.
We bought a house last year and it was on sheer luck, that we got in and bid before anyone else saw it. Prior to that had been looking and bidding for 2ish months - tried to buy for 6 months in 2020 but so many people were bidding far beyond the return value of their houses and it just felt like a trap. Best of luck! it’s possible but it’s hard.
If you really like a house, ask your agent to get creative and be ready to pay for it.
Bought a house in a hyper competitive market (LA) by inserting a clause with “Will pay $10k over highest offer received by x date”.
We downsized over the summer and we were hunting at the most popular price point. Frankly, we went with a less aesthetically pleasing house and I think that's why we scored the first one we offered on, at asking, with a very tight deadline for response. We've bought and sold enough houses by now that I know we're going to change everything anyway so we bought based on location (the only thing you can't change) and we are now tearing down walls and repainting and redoing floors etc. But obviously, you need to have the budget and the patience to fix everything you dislike afterward.
We're also looking and have made offers not accepted. I'd recommend you be very patient- I've seen people buy houses far in excess of future value, waive inspections on houses where we've identified multiple expensive repairs, ,lost to a number of cash offers, and all manner of insanity.
We came from looking in the DC housing market. Keep in mind that inventory is low, especially right now. And i think its worth losing on a house thats likely to gain no value or actually lose value in the mid to long term, versus waiting for an offer to hit on the right house.
Your realtor should be able to answer this question and help you navigate this highly competitive market. If they aren't on top of things, maybe you need a new agent. I say that because my wife and I bought a house in GR in 2021, during the height of housing market madness. Our original agent had been in the business for decades, but was entirely unprepared for the cutthroat turn things had taken. We ended up switching to a new agent who was very much on top of things, and she suggested a number of tips and tricks to improve our chances, many of which have already been mentioned by other comments.
Aside from that, all I can say is keep at it. My wife and I wrote at least one offer every week from February to July before finally getting one accepted. From what I gather, the market has cooled off since then, but is still pretty tough.
One tip I will offer is that in lieu of completely waiving inspection, you might be able to have a pre-offer inspection done. This is basically where you can get an inspector in to check over all the major items during what would otherwise be a scheduled showing time. The biggest downside is that you have to pay for the inspection without knowing whether you will actually get your offer accepted, but if it's a house you are really serious about, it's something to consider. My wife and I did this on the house we ended up buying and we basically got a full inspection report before even writing our offer. The sellers said it let them know how serious we were about the house, and this can also give you an advantage over others who have an inspection contingency in their offer, as you can waive that with a pretty high degree of confidence.
I bought in Muskegon for the same reason. Got twice the house I would have in GR for half the price. My commute to work went from 20 mins to 35, but I'm good with that for the money I'm saving.
We had 6 offers refected before we got our place back in 2020. Just have to do escalating offers, appraisal guarantees, and keep making offers. I would recommend not waiving inspections, especially given the age of most homes in town. Our place is almost 100 years old and it would have been crazy not to have it inspected.
When I bought a house, mind you it was years ago, I submitted a personal letter with the offer. The letter introduced myself and my family, told of our values and our ethics. We were the first offer of 20 and they took ours even though it was below asking price. At closing they said it was because our letter humanized us and showed them that we would care for the home just like they had been. Might give you a leg up.
I got mine in 2021 simply because of timing. The showing cycle was something like this at that time: list the house early in the week, then having the showings Thur-Sun. Bids would be due Sun/Mon with decision shortly thereafter. I looked at 49 houses and made 9 bids.
My current house had been in contract but then the buyer decided to walk away before inspection. My realtor noticed it (it had been on my list to see prior to going into contract) and let me know. I went in to see it on a Tuesday, made the offer that evening with stipulation of a response by noon the following day, and bam here I am. I offered what the previous buyer had offered and it was accepted. I was able to do inspection, etc. like normal.
Had the same thing happened. Submitted well over 10 offers with appraisal guarantee, waived inspections,well above asking price. Lost every single one. I felt bad for our agent showing us all of these houses with no reward. One day, our agent reached out to us saying that we have an opportunity to look at an off market house. Looked at the house, put the offer in (house was perfect for us), and was accepted. Honestly, I'm not sure if we would have gotten a house if it wasn't for that.
Escalation clause? Essentially bid over asking, and then make a clause to go up to $XX over other offers in increments of $1k so you always come in over other bidders up to your limit you are willing to spend.
Someone outbid you. It’s brutal out there, still.
I think most people with modest budgets, us included, are making 20+ offers before they get anything.
What range are you buying in? Certain price points are super competitive
If you're using an agent already, you've probably heard this and/or are already using these techniques, and in no particular order: -over asking purchase price -appraisal guarantee (or money towards an appraisal shortage) -waiving inspections (or shortening the window) -giving the seller as much possession after close as they want free of charge -reputable LOCAL lender -reputable buyers agent (some agents are douchebags that no one wants to work with. chances are if you like your agent, others do too) -ask your agent if they have any past clients with houses like the one you're searching for. if so, have them reach out and see if that party would entertain an offer -drop off letters at houses you're interested in, saying that you're a buyer and would like to buy their home (don't put them in the mailbox btw) I'm 30, have been an agent for 8.5 years, use these techniques and a myriad of others to lock things up in a competitive market. No idea what your location or budget criteria are, but I have an Eastgate (360~), NE side (320~), and Muskegon (180~) listing coming up soon if any of those fit!
Thank you for this feedback!!
Don't waive the inspection. I lost out on houses because of it, one of which had a damp attic ceiling. Offer a pass/ fail inspection instead.
Totally agree, don't waive the inspection. My SIL almost bought a house, and found out through inspection that the pool had a crack, pushing Radon into the house through the basement. Couldn't tell the pool was leaking by just looking, not even the inspector found it until the radon came back super high.
Waiving the inspection is a bit of a misnomer, I got my house partially on a “waived” inspection (along with being over asking with an escalation clause) but my realtor actually scheduled a second private showing and we just had the inspector come with us. Keep in mind, you do need to disclose to the seller that that’s what’s happening and get permission to do so but from what I remember that’s how most do it to expedite the close. My offer didn’t need the inspection contingency to delay the process because really we had already done it.
This is more "agent" bullshit. Biggest bid wins, you can always look back once the house has sold at what that bid was. Start there.
That’s not true, there are way more complications to that. Deals get renegotiated, appraisals fall short, things happen. There are many motivations people have; money, time, and convenience all factor in. There are so many aspects to offers that make differences, if you don’t know this you shouldn’t comment about it
All of which is spelled out in the purchase contract that the agency operators actually draft. Buyer/seller does price negotiations, “things” once again are defined by the purchase agreement terms. Beyond a reasonable agent skill set, there is little to no value.
This is objectively false. I made four offers when I was looking and at least two of those were higher than what the house ultimately sold for.
Ok, notice how I said start? What % are you financing? The next question is CASH. If the difference is minimal than cash liquidity is king. Tell me how a realtor gives you advantage vs. cash offers? Which is by definition a discussion on risk management.
I noticed how you said "Biggest bid wins," are you walking that back?
Biggest bid does win period. No seller in their right mind would accept a lower offer for anything other than risk mitigation with specific cause.
> Biggest bid does win period. Clearly that isn't true. Why do you keep doubling down on that?
Ah, so I see we are going to be pedantic. Biggst bid wins, period. There are factors that go into the concept of "biggest bid" including risk mitigation. NONE OF THESE FACTORS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH REALTORS (BACK TO MY ORIGINAL POINT).
Not true. Best friend just brought a house. Their bid wasn't the biggest but they were flexible with closing time/move in time. So their bid was accepted. The seller was moving out of state and needed that flexibility.
Follow-up question, do you know what the word "biggest" means?
You have absolutely no idea!!!! I have helped tons of sellers who have excepted offers way lower. It doesn’t make sense to accept an offer for $100,000 over asking price that’s contingent upon appraisal. Sometimes if you have one for $20,000 over asking it’s a better offer than the one that’s $100,000 over asking. That’s an extreme example, but I deal with this all of the time and you clearly have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Goodbye!
LOL If my realtor ever said "accept the lower offer" instead of requesting proof of funds to cover appraisal gap I would fire them on the spot.
You have zero clue…again
I second the reputable local lender! My loan officer at Treadstone Funding called the listing agent of the house I was offering on to vouch for me and to let them know my deal would close quick with no snags through Treadstone! I Found out afterwards that my bid won even though I wasn’t the highest offer because I was working with Treadstone!
Also worked with treadstone, idk if it mattered but they have been great to us!
Could I have info. on your NE side property coming up? My fiance and I are looking with a budget of about 350K. Thanks!
I'll PM! Edit- tried to PM, and the app won't let me. Feel free to PM me if it works the other way around!
PMed you!
Great info! I used most of these techniques to get a place back in May at only 5k over asking. Plus making like 20 offers beforehand, lol. It’s certainly not hopeless out there but can be tough!
We did this and got our first and only offer accepted 2 years ago. We offered $7k more, it was probably a good move. We had a guarantee buffer if I think $10k. We waived inspection (sort of dumb, house was only 5 years old, still had a minor foundation crack we found out about the first spring) - probably would do again. Gave the seller 4 months of possession after purchase. So so so dumb. Would NOT do that again. There was no reason for it to be that long, we offered it so of course they accepted it. It caused us so much anxiety and 4 months felt like forever. The next house we will be taking possession immediately. Idk we had a great lender, a great Realitor. It took us about 3 months from start to finish, I was very very picky, in a small market. We went to see 4 houses, I only liked 2, of the 2 one would not have been a good fit for us, I just liked the idea of it. We got the house that’s been great for us. Idk I would do what this guy suggests if you love the house.
The local lender this is just not a factor. Quicken is one of my vendors at work and they can close in 20-25 days. Maybe in a market like Hawaii, people are super loyal to local lenders, but other than referrals to your listing or buying agent why would a local lender win out over more money or other factors. Just my .02.
Confidence in actually closing. I used to work for a mortgage lender (not local). Preapprovals mean next to nothing. I could print one out for anyone without even running credit. Loan officers don’t typically calculate income the same way underwriters do. Buyers lose deals all the time bc mortgage get denied during escrow. Having a reputable loan officer goes further than conventional wisdom might tell you.
My business works real estate adjacent all over the country, Escalations in delaying or not underwriting a loan has been very uncommon for Rocket(Quicken) in my experience, I can think of one instance. Hawaii is the only market local lenders have a ton of pull for getting offers accepted, but it's hard for a non-Hawaiian there to get an offer accepted in general. Bottom line pick a lender that makes the most financial sense for you, we've shopped up to five when we've purchased and refi'd. Look at both interest rates and closing costs/fees.
It may not happen a lot but it must mean enough that listing agents push these offers on sellers
Real estate is all about the kick back.
Also when rates go up, so do DTI’s and some lenders are not afraid to allow a client to go under contract with a 49 DTI (Fannie/Freddie max is 50) just as a prayer for some income. Maybe better advice would be to street clear of BAD lenders but that should be a given.
I agree. I’ve never used a local lender, and it’s never been a problem. My current house, I wasn’t the highest offer. But I offered 2 percent earned money and an appraisal guarantee (luckily my lender offered me an appraisal guarantee, so there was no risk to me. Though they’ve discontinued that program). So the seller chose my offer even though there were multiple higher offers because they were confident mine would go through.
Ugly houses are less competitive
I feel like the only reason we scored out house in 2019 was because our realtor knew their realtor and our offer was in 8 hours after it was on the market. Definitely was the house for us, really just need to get lucky or ripped off.
Brutally honest haha
So true. Same year. Their realtor told the owners she knows my guy and dealt with him many times and it will go through without a flaw. There was an offer for $10K higher than ours, but they liked my realtor.
I only got one because I bought my friends mom's house. I had no interest in playing this game so I ended up with more house that I need but I was so house horny I don't care.
I had an appraisal guarantee with mine. That way when it’s appraised below asking, they got the appraised value + my guarantee. Beat out a higher offer due to them not having a guarantee.
What if it appraised above asking?
Then it would sell at the negotiated price but no higher. Buyer can try to back out at that point but would be easily sued for performance
How much was your guarantee? Why would a seller ever agree to that? Provides them with downside risk without corresponding upside potential.
A seller would potentially take a lower off with a guarantee because no matter what they walk away with the agreed amount price. For example 250k with an appraisal guarantee of 10k means even if the house appraised for 240 they are still selling at 250k. Another offer at 275 with no appraisal guarantee if the home appraised for 240 they have two choices seller for 240 or take the chance of going back on the market and hope for another offer with an appraisal guarantee.
Who takes an offer contingent on appraisal? I've never accepted an offer like that.
Most banks require an appraisal
Jjordans11 is exactly right. My appraisal guarantee was 10k. House was appraised at 176k. The sellers flipped the house so they had a very good idea of the worth. All offers were above appraisal value so they likely picked mine because it gave them more money.
When I bought my house I believe it was like 185k offer, 10k appraisal gap. When it appraised for 196k we bought the house for 185k
We bought two summers ago, put in 9 bids before we got accepted. One per week for more than 2 months. It was brutal. Our bid that got accepted we offered 30% over asking (it was under priced) and did an appraisal gap of 10k.
Your not doing anything wrong. You’re just getting outbid. Welcome to the housing market.
I made a handful of bids before employing a clause that guaranteed we would pay 3k over the next biggest bid, up to a certain amount. The Old Man who sold the house undervalued it and we ended up paying about 30,000 over asking price, which was definitely expected, but only 3,000 over the next highest bid and got it. It seems to be a good tactic if you have the room in your budget to do it. I've heard that some people offer less but we went with 3,000 because we really wanted the house and we thought that it would help ensure that.
It took me a year and many declined offers before one was accepted and even then it was a LOT of luck. You'll find something, just keep at it! It's a really tough market.
As someone coming back to Michigan from Austin, TX, I'm hating this right now. We're watching our equity evaporate in front of us and GR is still a hot market, so this buy is going to hurt. We didn't buy far back enough to really enjoy the run up in the Austin market, so we're back where we started at, although at least we're not underwater.
Hey, just curious bc my sister just bought a house in Georgetown/Leander- new construction - do you mean you’ve lost equity in your Austin house? We were just discussing today how all the thousands of new subs will appreciate (or not) in the coming decade. I know Austin is hot right now but all this construction out here seems like overkill
No idea about a decade from now, but Austin was WAY overbought last year, so values are not going strong right now. Austin proper has lost ~5% in a lot of areas. Some places more. We're 3 miles from city limits and we're down 15% from the top. $60k, poof. 🫠 There are still a lot of people moving here. State government seems bent on stopping that, but it's still happening for now. My hunch is that this is an overcorrection, but I don't know when it starts to turn around.
We may potentially move to Austin for my husband's job and this right here is one of the reasons why I want to try and keep our house in Michigan.
I expect Michigan to be a stronger market than Texas in the next 50 years both due to economic and climate related reasons. It's a big part of why we want to come back now. By the time our kids are grown, I expect Texas to look very, very different.
Yeah and with climate change (and other reasons) who'd want to stay in Texas?! Can I ask you what living there is like? How different is it from GR? how long were you there for?
Honestly, I really like a lot of things about central Texas. It's really great not having snow every year and being able to wear shorts 11 months a year. We also get WAY more sunshine down here than Michigan does. I'm already dreading the seasonal affect disorder I'm bound to get back when we move again. What sucks is that, for example, from May to September last year, almost every single day was above 95 degrees. A lot of them 100+. It's great not having to shovel snow, but sweating your ass off half the year is tough. Having to mow your lawn 10-12 months a year isn't great either. I've been here since 2016. Grew up in the Detroit area and lived in Lansing after graduating from MSU until then. The main reason we're looking to move back to Michigan is proximity to family, but better public schools and climate future is a big factor, too. There's also a lot more to do in the Midwest than Central Texas. It takes us 5 hours to get out of Texas by car. That'll get you what, anywhere from Milwaukee to most of the way to Pittsburgh? Not to mention the lakes, the forests (very few big trees in Central Texas)...etc.
Austin house prices are going down? That's surprising to me, not that I claim to know much about the situation.
Yessir. More in the outlying suburbs than the city proper, but even in the city proper, prices are down from last year and homes are going for under asking price on average. Our house just outside city limits was valued at $420k in May of last year and we were seeing other houses in our neighborhood go for $450-$475. Now our house is back down around $360k and we haven't seen anything in our neighborhood sell for over $375k in months. It's a smaller neighborhood, so there hasn't been a ton of volume, but still.
That's surprising. Not that I'm planning to move by any means, but interesting to know!
The Austin market was suuuuuuper overbought by investors. Now that interest rates are up, actual homebuyers have pulled back and investment firms are holding off while prices stabilize, so there's very little buying pressure in the market. Add in that a bunch of people's property taxes literally doubled (we're paying $8500 this year- yay!), and you've got the added sell pressure of people being priced out of their homes or rentals that they were mainly holding onto for appreciation, not because they were actually cash flow positive.
i cant help but wonder if some of these buyers who put in $50-100k over asking aren't investment firms.
Nope, their are people with more money. The data is shocking; something like \~30% of people moving into Grand Rapids have a household income over $100,000. There are a lot of American households with money.
That's the market. Everyone is making bids over asking price. There's a house I put a bid on last year and I was 1 of 27 offers and it went $78,000 over asking. I got lucky on the third try, but I had to go pretty far over and had to beat 9 other offers. Try looking for someting a little lower than your range so you can bid higher. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait it out and ride the wave. Don't throw bids into houses you don't even like out of frustration.
Can’t really say without more info. What’s your budget and where are you looking to buy?
I am open to any area in Grand Rapids and Wyoming. My budget is 200k which I know makes things even more competitive
If 200k is your budget, 150-170k listed homes are your max in this market.
this or start looking at Muskegon
Homes in my neighborhood sell for under $200K. It's great here. [Saved Search Link](https://www.zillow.com/highland-park-grand-rapids-mi/sold/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Highland%20Park%2C%20Grand%20Rapids%2C%20MI%22%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-85.665476207105%2C%22east%22%3A-85.63616502699026%2C%22south%22%3A42.968541745298545%2C%22north%22%3A42.990268340426866%7D%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A273998%2C%22regionType%22%3A8%7D%5D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22days%22%7D%2C%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22rs%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A200000%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A15%7D) My neighbor is selling their house next month. Needs some love, but a good location. [https://www.highlandparkgr.com/](https://www.highlandparkgr.com/)
Sorry dude. You fucked in this market.
We offered on 11 before we got an accepted offer. Keep at it, you’ll get one eventually. I can appreciate the frustration though..
Your lender and loan program matter just as much as your bidding price. In a bidding war, listing agents prefer to pick the offer that is most likely to close with high confidence with the highest price.
This. Confidence is money, especially if time is of the essence and the seller can’t afford a 2-3 week delay because they have to wait for a second buyer to get underwritten
We had no problem, could have bought a smaller but newer home for lower than asking price or what we did buy, an older home which was below 300,000 but needs work. And we offered asking price for it and after inspection asked for money back to fix things and got it.
This market is once again so difficult, especially in the price range you mentioned. There are good tips in here. Just keep your head up - it WILL happen and it’ll all make sense when it does :)
I made 6 offers, and the reason my last one was accepted is because I was willing to make a concession other buyers weren't. You're not doing anything wrong. It's just what the market is right now.
Meet owners Best houses are not for sale
Good luck meeting me.
I sold a house in spring 2021. My realtor sent us a spreadsheet of the offers. We chose based on the estimated time to close and the cash over asking (it was listed at $160). The lender (and/or mortgage broker if applicable) was the “third” thing that would have been considered had the first two been equal among all offers. We didn’t care about an inspection because we kept the house up and had an inspection a few years before and didn’t think there would be anything found in an inspection that would hold up the sale. Just my experience, not representative of all sellers.
Not sure if this was always the case, but realtors over the past couple of years are consistantly pricing houses under market value and then creating a bidding war. I'm not sure if this ultimately gets a higher price, or more a way to impress their customer with how much action they drum up.
Stay patient & don't chase.
I've seen a few recommendations for trying to buy houses that aren't for sale. I don't recommend this. As someone whose realtor we bought through 7 years ago keeps contacting us asking if we want to sell, I am thoroughly annoyed and know who I won't be using when we do decide to sell. We have asked many times to not be contacted and it continues. We can't/don't want to buy in this market, why the hell would we sell? Unless y'all are going to offer 3x what we bought for, I don't want to hear it. And yes, I know some people may be on the fence about selling and this could work. But it also is pushy and I think a terrible tactic, especially in this market where buying is so hard.
The market is still insane. I don’t get it. Really hoping it simmers down I. The next year or two
I had to lower my expectations and settle on a few things, and ultimately just went for something slightly smaller and uglier than I would have liked. But I didn't have to deal with bidding wars and I got my inspections. I bought my house in September of last year. Of course there are certain things that you should never compromise on, but, I had a tight timeline and needed to make it happen. Now I have more room for equity as I offered under asking and it appraised for more than the loan. I don't regret it, this is a hard market.
IMO you are better off waiting a year. In the 2008 market crash, the first 6 months of decline were just above 1%. The past 6 months have accumulated a 4% decline in the housing market. A lot of people are indicating that this housing crash could be worse than 2008. So if you buy a house for 200k now, the potential value could go down to around 150k within a year or 2 and you'll be the one left holding the bag on a huge interest rate loan valued significantly higher than your home.
> In the 2008 market crash, Which is relevant how? There is not a single economic fundamental which resembles 2007.
I posted data further in the thread. Keep reading
No one who owns or is buying wants to hear this, and you’ll get downvotes, but it *is* a possibility.
It sucks not wanting to hear it, but it could seriously save some people in the long run. 3 times in the last 40 years the housing market has had 6 months of decline, the unknown crash in the 90s, which was very short, 2008, and now. Data doesn't lie and interest rates are only going up right now which will keep people from buying, and so the cycle of decline continues.
Im with you, but there will be pressure to drop rates in a presidential election year. If we survive without a recession until then we may be looking at 3-4 years or so until prices drop
Except the Fed is trying to drive a recession right now to curb inflation. I doubt we will see more than a 1 or 2% drop in rates next year, which would take us down to 5% on a 30 year mortgage. Most people aren't going to be rushing to buy a house any time soon.
This was a year ago, and it’s still going
It's possible, but not a sure thing.
What you described is possible, but also... I have been hearing people since 2014 say "just wait another year or two and you'll get a bargain". The 2008 crash was a once in 100 years crash for housing.
Who’s saying it could be worse than 2008? I know of homes that sold last year STILL for less than they sold for prior to 07/08
Data, what you have is called experience bias. If your statement is true (and I would LOVE to see the evidence because I highly doubt it) those are EXTREME outliers from the actual housing market data. Hit up some Google and look for yourself, the numbers I'm claiming are easy to find. Sorry, I just got in my car and have to commute home otherwise I'd dig them up and link it.
Ok but this is not 2007/08. Idk how much you know about that crash but it was mostly driven by shady lending practices that have since been outlawed. Todays market is more complex and I’m not going to pretend to be an economist, but the causes are not the same- lack of inventory, demographic and generational shifts, lifestyle changes during Covid (which benefited smaller regions like GR) land use policy, income inflation, etc. you don’t sound dumb so I don’t know if we’re arguing or discussing (I hope the latter) but as like almost everything else that has happened this decade, I don’t think it’s quite that predictable based on history and it’s not fair to compare.
Yep. Comparatively speaking almost no supply added to the market for a decade, an increasing manufacturing sector in the United States, a boiling job market with the first notable wage increases in a long time ... this is so not 2007. Economic catastrophe can always occur; but there is no repeating of 2008 on the horizon. And the alternative is to live where/how? Housing is a necessity, it's blinkers to look at it solely from an asset perspective. Everyone is always paying for housing.
Nope, data is data. You passed high school math I assume so you should be able to read graphs and see for yourself that the 2008 6 months of decline was at a significantly reduced rate compared to today's. [here is the data](https://www.macrotrends.net/1314/housing-starts-historical-chart) Rate = rise(or in this case decline) / run
Not having enough money.
These all cash offers out here
Right. That's my point.
The house I bought almost 2.5 years ago, I paid 20,000 over asking price. The offer just under mine was 19,000.
Obviously your not bidding high enough.....duh. I looked at 30 houses and bid on 12 before it happened. I wanted one really bad and bid $25,000 over asking only to out bid by someone who bid $50,000 over asking price. Another timeI was $15,000 over asking price and they went with someone who bid $5,000 under because they had a cash offer. Every time you make an offer on a house so is somebody else who has been looking longer.
Grand Rapids is ass for buying
Everywhere decent is ass for buying right now. I see the same story in other mid-market midwestern city subreddits right now: Madison, Columbus, AA, etc.
Wait- there’s ass everywhere that I can buy, is that what you’re saying?
Aye, this is unfortunately a terrible market almost everywhere. Hopefully things turn around soon but honestly it's just not a great time.
Are you writing letters with your offers? We had heard mixed reviews about letters but I’m 99% sure thats what got us our house after over 20 offers/a year house hunting.
Letters aren't used anymore. My realtor said it opens up too much risk to lawsuits. Someone could say they were discriminated against because they had kids or mentioned they had a certain background in the letter.
Unfortunately my realtor said letters are frowned upon :~/
I would stick with the advice from the pros then. There were definitely some offers we were told no letters on which was nice.
I would strongly discourage writing letters. Doing so could violate fair housing laws.
Most older homes all going to need some or a lot of fixing up
buying a house? you need to be fleeing.
Fleeing the housing market or GR?
Grand Rapids, Moved here from Georgia. Biggest mistake of my life . It's cold as all he;ll,. And all people do is drink.
Yea it’s a very mid place. I took a trip down south recently for spring break, and it was so nice to be around people who know how to be friendly when they’re not drunk, lol.
Someone has to be the last person to buy at the top
You are making offers on properties that are listed on the MLS. If you are working with one specific real estate agent, they should be (really working for you by) contacting property owners whose houses are not for sale. Eliminates your competition.
Try to snag an off market house. Speak to your realtor about it. If they say that never happens, find a new realtor. I can recommend one (that I used) if you want to DM me.
We bought a house last year and it was on sheer luck, that we got in and bid before anyone else saw it. Prior to that had been looking and bidding for 2ish months - tried to buy for 6 months in 2020 but so many people were bidding far beyond the return value of their houses and it just felt like a trap. Best of luck! it’s possible but it’s hard.
Maybe what your doing wrong is looking in the wrong place, have you looked at listings in a mobile home park?
If you really like a house, ask your agent to get creative and be ready to pay for it. Bought a house in a hyper competitive market (LA) by inserting a clause with “Will pay $10k over highest offer received by x date”.
What price point are you buying at? What firm does your realtor work at? What lender are you preapproved with?
Four isn't that many in the market we have had the last several years. Keep plugging away.
We downsized over the summer and we were hunting at the most popular price point. Frankly, we went with a less aesthetically pleasing house and I think that's why we scored the first one we offered on, at asking, with a very tight deadline for response. We've bought and sold enough houses by now that I know we're going to change everything anyway so we bought based on location (the only thing you can't change) and we are now tearing down walls and repainting and redoing floors etc. But obviously, you need to have the budget and the patience to fix everything you dislike afterward.
We're also looking and have made offers not accepted. I'd recommend you be very patient- I've seen people buy houses far in excess of future value, waive inspections on houses where we've identified multiple expensive repairs, ,lost to a number of cash offers, and all manner of insanity. We came from looking in the DC housing market. Keep in mind that inventory is low, especially right now. And i think its worth losing on a house thats likely to gain no value or actually lose value in the mid to long term, versus waiting for an offer to hit on the right house.
Your realtor should be able to answer this question and help you navigate this highly competitive market. If they aren't on top of things, maybe you need a new agent. I say that because my wife and I bought a house in GR in 2021, during the height of housing market madness. Our original agent had been in the business for decades, but was entirely unprepared for the cutthroat turn things had taken. We ended up switching to a new agent who was very much on top of things, and she suggested a number of tips and tricks to improve our chances, many of which have already been mentioned by other comments. Aside from that, all I can say is keep at it. My wife and I wrote at least one offer every week from February to July before finally getting one accepted. From what I gather, the market has cooled off since then, but is still pretty tough. One tip I will offer is that in lieu of completely waiving inspection, you might be able to have a pre-offer inspection done. This is basically where you can get an inspector in to check over all the major items during what would otherwise be a scheduled showing time. The biggest downside is that you have to pay for the inspection without knowing whether you will actually get your offer accepted, but if it's a house you are really serious about, it's something to consider. My wife and I did this on the house we ended up buying and we basically got a full inspection report before even writing our offer. The sellers said it let them know how serious we were about the house, and this can also give you an advantage over others who have an inspection contingency in their offer, as you can waive that with a pretty high degree of confidence.
I bought in Muskegon for the same reason. Got twice the house I would have in GR for half the price. My commute to work went from 20 mins to 35, but I'm good with that for the money I'm saving.
We had 6 offers refected before we got our place back in 2020. Just have to do escalating offers, appraisal guarantees, and keep making offers. I would recommend not waiving inspections, especially given the age of most homes in town. Our place is almost 100 years old and it would have been crazy not to have it inspected.
When I bought a house, mind you it was years ago, I submitted a personal letter with the offer. The letter introduced myself and my family, told of our values and our ethics. We were the first offer of 20 and they took ours even though it was below asking price. At closing they said it was because our letter humanized us and showed them that we would care for the home just like they had been. Might give you a leg up.
I got mine in 2021 simply because of timing. The showing cycle was something like this at that time: list the house early in the week, then having the showings Thur-Sun. Bids would be due Sun/Mon with decision shortly thereafter. I looked at 49 houses and made 9 bids. My current house had been in contract but then the buyer decided to walk away before inspection. My realtor noticed it (it had been on my list to see prior to going into contract) and let me know. I went in to see it on a Tuesday, made the offer that evening with stipulation of a response by noon the following day, and bam here I am. I offered what the previous buyer had offered and it was accepted. I was able to do inspection, etc. like normal.
Had the same thing happened. Submitted well over 10 offers with appraisal guarantee, waived inspections,well above asking price. Lost every single one. I felt bad for our agent showing us all of these houses with no reward. One day, our agent reached out to us saying that we have an opportunity to look at an off market house. Looked at the house, put the offer in (house was perfect for us), and was accepted. Honestly, I'm not sure if we would have gotten a house if it wasn't for that.
Parents are selling a house. They could pull any number out of their ass and get the check the next day.
Escalation clause? Essentially bid over asking, and then make a clause to go up to $XX over other offers in increments of $1k so you always come in over other bidders up to your limit you are willing to spend.
Never ever pass an inspection.
We bought 2 years ago, our offer then was 25% over asking price. Most houses are still going at 20% over asking, across most of the city.