Pro Tip • September Edition • What Buyers Should Do In A Multiple Bidding Situation

My motto: Don’t be scared & don’t get your hopes up.

There’s no sugar coating it—I know many buyers who sat out on the spring market and are now regretting it immensely. Prices have risen since the COVID-19 outbreak began in March and there’s still a great deal of pent-up demand for homeownership among the “young adults” demographic.

The reality is, available homes are in short supply and prices have gone way up, making multiple bidding situations the new norm. Since March, I’ve been telling my metro Detroit buyers to expect multiple bidding situations—especially in the suburbs, so don’t be surprised if this happens to you!

Here are three tips if you find yourself in a multiple bidding situation:

• Educate yourself on local property values before you bid.

Buyers should have context on current values to make sure they don’t offer too much. I always try to find 6-10 comparable homes that were recently sold in the neighborhood area, but this is something you can do too on your own if you’re in a pinch! If you’re targeting a specific neighborhood that has no consistency in size and style of home, then be sure to compare on a price-per-square-foot basis and adjust for differences in home features.

Depending on how in love with the home you are, that should determine how aggressive of an offer you make, but that’s also where I can assist! I always help my clients come up with an accurate current market value estimate of the place they wish to buy, and we look at the pros and cons together.

• Speak to the neighbors.

Pick a weekend time to walk through the community and chat with a few residents about the pros and cons of living there. In the course of the conversation, you’ll likely get a better sense of the community and learn about why nearby homes are for sale.

• Get pre-approved.

Ask your lender for a loan preapproval letter to make you stand out from the rest. This is different from a pre-qualified letter. Being preapproved makes you a stronger buyer in the seller's eyes.

Let me know if you want any other tips on this! The market is really crazy right now and the important thing is to stay optimistic. There are many other tips that I could share, but these are the ones that are super simple to do on your own.

Who you work with matters. If you need help then e-mail me and let’s see how I can help you out! XOXO, Erica