As a seller, if you list your home and receive multiple offers for it, do you have to go with the highest-priced offer?
I recently had a seller client who found himself in a multiple offer situation and was faced with this same question. Multiple offer situations aren’t uncommon in our current market. Our market is hot right now, and there isn’t a lot of inventory out there. Any property that’s priced well and shows well will be in high demand. In my seller’s case, he had three offers in total.
“You have to take all factors of an offer into consideration when selling your home.”
The first offer included a contingency where the buyer had to first sell their current house before they could buy. This offer was actually the highest-priced offer. Our asking price was $250,000, and this offer met that price.
The second offer was for only $245,000, but it didn’t include any contingencies. The buyer was also pre-approved and ready to purchase.
The third offer was also for a lower price than $245,000, but it was an all-cash offer.
So, when my seller asked me whether he had to accept the highest offer, I told him absolutely not. There are more factors that go into an offer than just price—you also have to look at an offer’s terms and conditions.
The terms and conditions of an offer specify whether the buyer needs financing, whether they’re asking for closing costs to be paid, how short their due diligence period is, etc.
In our case, we ended up going with the second offer. Its price wasn’t as high as the first offer, but the seller didn’t have any contingencies and was able to close on the house in 30 days. In the end, both parties left the table happy.
