If you’re selling your home, the idea of getting multiple offers to buy might seem like an ideal scenario. However, managing multiple offers can be complicated and even stressful. Working with a real estate agent will help you figure out the best course of action, but so will understanding your options. Here are some choices you can make when presented with a multiple offer scenario:
The easiest thing to do in a multiple offer scenario is to accept the best offer on the table. This means no extra negotiation and a potentially higher sale price without adding time to your process. Accept the best offer and reject the rest immediately to make your decision.
Another option is to let all the buyers know there are multiple offers in play. Disclosing multiple offers to everyone involved means buyers can counter with a better offer. If they are not interested in upping their price or adding better terms, they can walk away from the sale and leave the others for you to negotiate with.
If you receive one offer that’s better than the rest, you can disclose it to the other potential buyers. This gives them the chance to either match or surpass the best offer. This might cause some buyers to walk away and others to increase their offer.
Sometimes there can be one offer that’s more promising than the rest. Even if it’s a top choice, you can counter the offer while letting the other potential buyers wait or a decision. You might get better contract terms or a better price from the “favorite” offer. If not, you know you still have backup options as long as you don’t reject them right away.
Juggling multiple offers can be stressful or exciting depending on the situation. No matter what, it’s a good idea to go over the options with a real estate professional for help in negotiating the best potential outcome.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
