Getting the home you want

Even in this "down" market, here in Marin and S. Sonoma, the best houses can have multiple offers. Twice this month I had clients make offers on homes (one in San Rafael and one in Mill Valley) only to find out there were multiple offers. Both client's were able to get the homes with a little creativity.

The San Rafael deal had a multiple counter offer (this is when the Seller counters more than one offer and then pics the favorite...usually the price is the same on all counters and they just take the strongest financially). We decided to up our bid by 2k instead of just taking the Seller's standard counter price. The Seller took our offer because all three Buyers came back at the same price and we decided to add that 2K! The other agent said that it was the 2k that did it. The Seller had been planning on asking every Buyer to resubmit a new offer to create a bidding war, but was impressed with our effort and changed his mind taking our bid. Whew!

The Mill Valley property was very hot. We saw it on a Weds (the day it came out) and the other agent told me she had 4 or so offers circling. We wrote our offer, got it in that night with a 24 hour expiration. I wrote a letter about my client explaining that he was well qualified and that he was not an investor...I made it personal and the Seller decided to take our offer without looking at the other offers (there were more than 5 offers that came in that Friday!). The other agent said it was the letter that made them take the offer. They really wanted a Buyer who would love the house. A letter with your offer is a MUST!

Sometimes you have to act fast and think outside the box in order to get the home you want. I sure do love Real Estate!