I want to relate a group of scenarios that happened in early March. I wrote offers for three different buyers on three different homes all in our area. All three homes had multiple offers and we were fortunate enough to be the successful offer on all three. Without disclosing specifics, we did not bid way over asking price but all three buyers were successful because they A) had their financing in place B) gave at or above full asking price with no concessions or raised the price to compensate for their concessions and C) DID NOT HESITATE TO SUBMIT THEIR OFFERS AND FINANCIAL CRITERIA.
I would love to say that it was all based on the massive negotiating skills that I possess but the buyers were aware of current market conditions and knew that submitting a low offer or an offer with huge concessions would end up with them not getting the home. Negotiating has a lot more to do with being knowledgeable about the current levels of supply and demand than it does with how hard nosed of a negotiator you are. I consider these offers huge successes because we obtained the home in a short supply situation rather than getting a home slightly under market after having to write 100 offers for a client.