In a seller’s market, there can be many home buyers and too few houses. If you’re a buyer facing this dilemma, that means you need to figure out how to beat the competition and buy the house. Typically, when faced with many bidders, sellers will pick the highest offer, an all-cash offer or what gets them to the closing table the quickest. But if you can’t plunk down a lot of cash or waive a home inspection, there might be other ways to stand out, especially if you’re flexible on certain points or have specialized skills. Here, Realtor.com shares some creative—and kind of crazy—ways people have sweetened their offers.
1. Toss in free pizza for life!
When Rob and Holly Marsh put their Oregon home on the market in 2015, they had multiple offers within days. One buyer had even offered $26,000 over the asking price but had a feeling that wasn’t quite enough to nail the deal. So, she threw in one pizza a month for life. The Marshes accepted the offer. How could they resist? Besides, when you add it all up, that much pizza was worth serious dollars—a free $20 pie once a month for the next 40 years amounts to $10,000 total. And it makes a business deal a more personal bond.
2. Fix what’s wrong with the house
Here’s how Terence Michael snagged a beach house in Playa del Rey, Calif., in 2005’s hot housing market: He noticed it came with a detached garage that had been converted into a rental unit. Problem was, it wasn’t up to code—so most buyers were leery. Enter Michael, who had completed some of his own home renovations in the past and knew exactly how to bring this otherwise perfect place up to snuff. He asked the sellers for permission to begin converting that space back to a garage, not knowing if the sellers would accept his offer. Since the owners had little to lose and lots to gain, they allowed Michael to move forward with his plans, which entailed installing a garage door, removing the bathroom and making other changes to get the space car-ready. After 10 days, the sellers informed Michael that the house was his—new garage and all. He wound up getting the house for $592,000 and then sold it in 2014 for $939,000.
3. Add an open-ended escalation clause
Adding an escalation clause to an offer means the buyer commits to paying a specified amount more than the highest offer submitted, up to a cutoff price. On a house listed for $450,000, for example, buyers might top any offer by $2,000, up to $480,000. Taking that idea to a new level, consider submitting an offer to pay $5,000 more than the highest offer, with no cap on the total purchase price.
4. Waive attorney review
The attorney review is part of the home-buying process when buyers do their due diligence and have the house inspected for any problems before closing the deal. The risk of waiving the attorney review is substantial. It could be a good idea to forego the attorney review, however, if you really want to secure your dream house with the right room sizes in the perfect location. With the attorney review waived, the sellers basically only need to set a closing date, which can be very compelling.
5. Stop by during primetime
If you really want to do something to stand out as a buyer, stop by the house, knock on the door and introduce yourself to the sellers. Although contacting the sellers directly often is considered pushy, it could actually work. Nothing beats a little face time.
6. Offer a trip…or tickets to a sporting event
What would you choose: Season tickets for your favorite NFL team or a trip to Paris? In Denver’s competitive market this past spring, these two perks were offered up by buyers. It may seem extreme, but it actually makes sense to leverage what you have that others might find valuable.