Try Your Own Luck
How these fortunate new homeowners beat multiple offers
We drove and drove and drove. We drove all over Middle Tennessee, from Springfield to Murfreesboro to Lebanon. We were looking for a solid home that offered a little bit of land and some privacy. There was one weekend in particular where we went through a whole tank a of gas!
Then one morning it hit the market: a perfectly renovated home on 11 wooded acres, with a fun driveway through the woods, curving up the hill to the house. Two car garage, old stacked stone fence along the property line, and trees for days. This was it! My military clients were stoked. We scheduled a showing.
After touring the property during an overlapping showing (and perhaps falling a little bit in love with the home), we called the listing agent to ask a few of the usual questions. That’s when she said those scary words: “multiple offers received.” My clients’ faces fell; my heart sank. We weren’t in an advantageous position to deal with multiple offers aggressively. The usual tricks of offering over asking price, appraisal guarantees, and escalation clauses just weren’t great options this time. Instead, we were attempting a to secure a home with a VA loan at 0% down while also asking for $11k help with closing costs. We finished the showing, took a one last look at the dream house, and headed home.
We kept talking that night. I encouraged my buyer clients to at least make an offer. “We just don’t know what those other offers look like, and besides, what’s life if we don’t even try to pursue what we know is a great fit?” Luckily, they agreed. We submitted our offer the next morning.
Two hours later the phone rang. “We took a look at the offers we received,” the listing agent said. “And there were some really good offers on the table this time, even over asking price.” My mind started preparing to deliver the bummer news to my buyer clients. “But,” she said, “We wanted this home to go to people who are really going to love and deserve it. We know your clients are military vets, and we also have a military background. These buyers are the right fit for us, and we’re accepting your offer right now.”
I still get emotional telling this story. Who declines more money to do a great thing for our vets? Who takes the risk dealing with the VA over traditional funding sources? And imagine if our discouragement at the multiple offer situation got the best of us, if we didn’t submit an offer. Lesson learned: if you love that house, always shoot your shot. You might just get lucky with a seller who aligns with your ideals, too.