How We Handle Multiple Offers on a Listing

Here’s a look at how we handle multiple offers on a listing.

We’ve been lucky in the San Francisco area to enjoy a strong seller’s market. It’s not uncommon for houses to get multiple offers, just like how one of ours recently received eight. But these contracts are 10 pages long each. How do agents review all of that information and pick the best one? We wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we handle this:

First, we organize all of the offers in a single spreadsheet. This helps the seller look at them all side by side and easily compare. Most sellers want to immediately go for the highest offer, but we counsel them to consider other terms as well like contingencies and financing.

Often, we’ll send counteroffers to these buyers. Usually, the seller will counter the price, but we can ask to change anything from the initial offer. This accomplishes two things. It lets us negotiate the best price and terms and gives the buyers an opportunity to present their best offer.

With the listing that got eight offers, our negotiations ended up with a purchase price of 10% over the list price, no contingencies, firm financing, and a 30-day close. Needless to say, our seller was very happy.

If you’re looking to sell your home and you want to get the most money possible, give us a call at 650-862-8603. We’d love to help you get top dollar.