In today’s highly competitive market, securing your next home can feel like a daunting task. With multiple offers on many properties, it’s essential to be strategic and well-prepared. Read on for some key tips and insider secrets to help you navigate this competitive landscape and increase your chances of getting your offer accepted.

Know the Market Inside and Out

Before you even start looking at properties, it’s crucial to educate yourself on the current market trends and prices. Understand the direction of the market and make adjustments for any sales data that is a few months old. The more knowledgeable you are, the better you can make informed decisions.

Get Your Finances in Order

One of the most critical steps in this process is to ensure your finances are organised so you are in a position to negotiate from a strong base. If you’re borrowing to buy, get pre-approved for a mortgage with a reputable broker. This pre-approval will not only strengthen your negotiating position but also allow you to offer a far shorter finance clause of 7 to 14 days, making your offer more attractive to sellers.

Communicate Effectively with Agents

Unfortunately, not all agents are excellent communicators. Some might fail to follow through or keep you updated. To avoid losing out on a property due to poor communication on the agent’s side, be proactive. Don’t be afraid to be the “squeaky wheel” to get the grease.

When you find a property you like, ask the agent if there have been any offers. If there aren’t any yet, try to avoid being the first to make an offer and consider waiting a day or so – but this needs to be balanced with the opportunity of getting in there before anyone else does. Try asking the agent, “is the seller is willing to provide an answer on the day, should I make an offer” – if yes, there could be an opportunity to a deal done quickly. If there are already offers, or multiple offers are more than likely to be coming, inform the agent clearly that you will be making one and get a clear timeline for when offers will be presented. Ensure you have all the paperwork ready to go, but it can be beneficial to submit your offer last minute.

Hold Your Cards Close

If/when the agent asks what your price will be, avoid revealing it early. Instead, say you are still working through your offer based on their price guide, or current market prices, and will present it with your offer. If pressed, repeat your response. There’s no need to give away your position prematurely.

Set Clear Expectations with the Agent

To prevent another offer from being accepted without your knowledge, communicate clearly with the agent. Tell them that you want to be informed if another offer might be accepted early and seek clear confirmation that the seller will not accept any offers until yours has been received. Follow this up in writing to eliminate any confusion.

Ask Questions

When presenting your offer, try asking the agent the following questions:

• Have you contacted other buyers to determine if their offers are best and final?
• Is our offer competitive?
• Will our offer make the shortlist for the seller’s consideration?

You can try and ask these question in many different ways to see if you can elicit some form of an answer – it’s what a good agent will do to you, to see if you have room to move with your offer. They may not answer your questions, as there are clear rules around the information that agents are able to give buyers in a private treaty sale. However, not everyone plays by the rules which is a sad reality of the industry. From a buyer’s perspective, if you don’t ask you don’t know.

Request a final courtesy call before offers are presented to get updates on any changes from other offers and try asking all the above questions again. Hopefully get a feel for whether an adjust in your offer is necessary.

Your Best and Final Offer is Often Best

In highly competitive markets trying to land the best deal can often backfire, so it can be wise to go straight to your best and final offer. However, there’s no need to disclose that it is your final offer. Instead, if asked “is this your best and final”, indicate that you will consider any counteroffer on its merits if the seller chooses to do so – this leaves some ambiguity which could work in your favour. Then if you do get the counteroffer, it may suggest that your offer is the highest.

Think Long-Term

Finally, consider that sometimes it’s worth paying a bit more for the right property if you can afford it. An extra $20,000 or so might seem significant now, but in the long run, it could save you from paying even more for a property down the track if the market continues to rise. I very much doubt you will care about that $20,000 in seven or ten years time if it is the ‘one’.

By following these tips and being well-prepared, hopefully you’ll be better equipped to secure your next home even in a competitive market. Good luck, and happy house hunting!