How to be the winning buyer when there are multiple offers

Desirable real estate, as well as a firming market, means there are often multiple buyers keen on the same property.

So how can buyers increase their chances of winning a multiple offer battle?

First up, experts say, buyers need to understand that the presence of a multiple offer situation is real and not an agent trick.

Antonia Mercorella, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, says there are laws that protect buyers from misleading conduct.

“When you’ve been told that your offer is not the only one on the table, it’s tempting to believe the agent is simply using tactics to get you to increase your bid, however, the law is very clear on this matter and agents are prohibited from using this as a bid-raising strategy,” she says.

Simon Pressley, buyers’ agent and market analyst at Propertyology, says buyers should then submit the price they are prepared to pay for the property because they generally won’t get a second chance.

“You tend to get one crack at it and that’s it … you put your best foot forward, the offers are given to the vendor, they’ll make a decision and that’s it,” he says.

“The strategy we use is to have an ‘if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be’ attitude. Don’t get drawn into what the agent and the vendor want in a multi-offer situation, which is all this extra hype that’s going to drive the price up.

“Some people will get caught up in that and they will pay over odds just for the satisfaction of winning. What did they win? They paid $20,000 more than it’s worth.”

It’s equally important for buyers to keep emotion out of the equation and not to exceed their price appraisal for the property, he says. In fact, sometimes the best outcome is that they aren’t successful.

“Buying property is largely an irreversible decision because it’s not like you can take it back tomorrow and the costs to buy and sell combined are a lot. So it’s really important to focus on what would constitute a good decision,” Mr Pressley says.

Winning multiple offer tactics can include the reduction or removal of conditions, which can make the offer more attractive to the vendor.

Ms Mercorella says experienced buyers who have done their research could also consider waiving the cooling off period, paying a bigger deposit, offering a cash unconditional offer or a quick settlement.

“Fast settlements are often very appealing for vendors. A vendor may have their next property purchase ready to settle but could be waiting on the sale of their current home before they can finalise,” she says.

“By offering a shorter period to settlement you could make your offer more appealing.”