How to Get Your Offer Accepted

Austin Texas Real Estate Podcast With Shawn Culhane

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Since Austin is one of the most competitive buyer environments in the country, it's quite common to see multiple contracts offered on a single property. This can make life stressful for buyers, who find themselves forced to bring their highest and best offers to the table in order to win a multiple offer situation. Today, we want to share a few tips to ensure you don't miss out on the home of your dreams.

The first and most important thing is to be ready to submit an offer. In Austin, if you do not have a pre-approval or a funds verification letter to prove you have cash in hand to purchase, a seller will not acknowledge your offer, much less consider accepting it. Having your pre-approval letter in hand while aggressively looking for a home is the most important thing you can do when buying in Austin.

If you find yourself in a multiple offer situation, upping the option money is something that can sweeten the deal for the seller. When you do this, option money is given to the seller upfront for what we call the option period; often, for seven days it's $150, but making it $500-$1,000 can make the offer more attractive. Another option is offering a greater amount of earnest money, which is held in escrow once the contract is executed. You will only get that money back if you terminate within the option period or some other outlet in the contract. This allows the sellers to see on paper that you're highly motivated and that you're serious about buying the house and less likely to terminate the contract.

Giving the seller the choice of the closing date is another way to make your offer stand out. If you're not in a situation where you need to move into a home in the next 30 days as soon as the loan is process, it will benefit you to be flexible with your timetables. Let the seller choose their close date, or if the seller prefers, close as soon as possible.

Writing a personal letter to the seller is a great way to grab their attention. Explain what you love about the home, why you're moving, where you're from, and what you plan to do with the home. This humanizes your offer, as you become more than just a name on a piece of paper.

Lastly, you need to be patient when buying in a competitive market. Ultimately, in this market, everything is in the seller's hands. Submit the strongest offer you can and relax the best you can; pestering the seller's agent is only going to make you look anxious and desperate, two qualities you don't want sellers to pick up on.

If you have any questions about making the most of this competitive marketplace, please don't hesitate to contact us. We would love to help you find success in this difficult buying environment!