Top 9 Strategies Sure To Spark A Bidding War

If you’re planning to sell your home, you probably have a figure in mind you’re hoping to fetch. But, if you thought buyers would be willing to go above (and well beyond) that number, it certainly would make prepping your property for sale and boxing up your belongings for a move more palatable.

In May, inventory fell for the third straight month, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), driving up the month’s median price for a single-family home to $252,800, a 5.8 percent increase from the year before.

While supply and demand might be on your side at the moment, it’s great to have a few strategies up your sleeve that’ll bring in bids even when the economy isn’t working with you.

Take a look at these 9 tricks that’ll have buyers willing to beg, borrow, or steal to buy your place.

1. Attract the herd

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“Buyers always get scared when they are the only ones interested in a property. So, we make sure that doesn’t happen. In a balanced or seller’s market, we’ll price a property on the lower end of the spectrum. This drives more people to set up appointments for viewings and drives more people to the open house. More traffic illustrates interest and this perceived interest stokes competitive fires in a buyer.” — Romana King, romanaking.com

2. Price it to sell

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“Studies show that a rounded sale price, for example: $500,000, won’t drive up a price as much as a just-below price, for example: $499,999. For that reason, we always try and price our properties just below a threshold, with the intent that we will drive the price up. Even in a fairly balanced marketplace, we can anticipate a 2 to 3 percent increase in a just-below list price, meaning a final selling price that is $10,000 to $15,000 over list price.” — King continued

“Advertise the listing slightly under the market value after comps have been completed, and then refuse access to anyone until the first open-house. Then many buyers and there agents come in and are eager and excited for what they’ve long been waiting for— and the bidding wars begin.” — Erik Heitz, Realtor® Triplemint

3. Create a buzz

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“Have a stellar pre marketing / coming soon program in place that builds anticipation leading to a late week live listing on MLS then Open House. Hold offers until after open house and present all offers received thus far together. This allows the seller to be in the driver’s seat. Instead of having to answer the first offer (typically received in the first day or two) and lose that offer because of expiration they are able to collect multiple offers.” — Rebecca Hamilton, Realtor® Keller Williams Atlantic Partners Realty Group, LLC

4. Set the stage

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“If you want to get multiple offers, staging is key. Even if you have a good eye for design, help from a professional can go a long way. Not only do they have an unbiased view of your home, they can also shed light on popular design trends in your local market so you can make your home irresistible to prospective buyers. Don’t just go with someone you found on Google. Ask your real estate agent for a recommendation, or at the very least, be open to taking your agent’s staging advice.” Jonathan Self, Realtor® Center Coast Realty

“Do your research on the trends in home designing and try to imitate the most popular looks while staging your home. Homebuyers are typically reading through a lot of home magazines and websites while searching for a place to buy, so if they see something that reminds them of an image they saw in a designer magazine it may spark their interest.” — David Green, Realtor® Coldwell Banker SSK

5. Host an over-the-top open house

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“Make your home seem like the best thing on the market. A great way to do this is to host an over-the-top open house that offers food, drinks, and even entertainment that sparks interest in a large number of people. The more people that you can attract to your home, the more people you are bound to have make an offer.” — Cindy Bunch from Bunch Team Keller Williams

6. Set a deadline

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“After a weekend of open houses, I will have a call for offers set for Monday or Tuesday. This creates a sense of urgency which makes buyers act more aggressively. When time is of the essence, you break down the natural instinct to try and bargain or ‘window shop.'” Chris Taylor, director of investment sales, Advantage Real Estate

7. Create competition

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“I will list a property on a Monday and hold an open house the following Saturday and Sunday, an hour or two each day. The goal is to get as much consistent, overlapping foot traffic as possible because it creates a sense of urgency for the serious buyers. If there are 20 people at a given time at an open house, even if only one buyer is serious, that one buyer is seeing 19 people as potential competition. If a buyer really loves a property, the perceived competition will make them more likely to up their bid in order to get their offer accepted.” — Taylor continued

8. Give yourself plenty of time

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“It’s also important to plan ahead so that you’re not in a hurry to move. Tight timelines can result in real estate agents rushing through the staging and pre-marketing process to list a home on time, and it can cause sellers to anxiously jump at the first offer that comes along. This is a sure way to miss out on a bidding war opportunity.” — Liz Alterman

9. Sweeten the pot

“Including something fun into the sale of your home can be fun for buyers and attract or interest some more than others as well. I have seen homes for sale that include a new Mercedes, Super Bowl Tickets, and all inclusive vacations to the buyer who closes on the home.” — Teddy Shonka, Real Estate Professional, PLLC North & Co. | Residential & Investment

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