6 Tongue-In-Cheek Ways for Home Sellers to Decide Which Buyer Wins a Bidding War for Their House

It’s stressful for everybody involved in a bidding war…

As you can imagine, it’s no day in the park for buyers and their agents; they’re on edge, hoping the seller chooses their offer.

But it’s not fun and games for a seller or their agent, either! There’s a lot of money riding on making the best decision for themselves. And they’re going to have to break some bad news to at least one buyer, if not a bunch of them.

While there may be an offer or two that a seller can easily dismiss because it’s not even close to the other ones they have to consider, you’d be amazed at how often sellers have to choose between offers that are remarkably similar in price and terms being offered, making the decision all the more difficult to make.

So, what if they actually used some fun and games to help make their decision?! Having buyers who are competing for their house compete against each other in some games might be a great way to take some of the stress off the seller, and make the process a lot more fun for buyers, whether they win or lose the house of their dreams!

Check out these 6 tongue-in-cheek ways home sellers could use to decide which buyer wins a bidding war for their house:

1) Rock Paper Scissors

This classic schoolyard game could translate well in the living room of a seller’s house. Just make sure none of the buyers have actual rocks or scissors stowed away in their pockets, in case things get a bit heated.

2) Tricycle Jousting

Jousting is one of the oldest ways to settle disputes, but also impractical since most people don’t have horses. Or lances. Or yards big enough for people with lances to ride horses. Plus there’s the chance somebody could get really, really hurt… or worse.

But arming each buyer with an oversized boxing glove attached to a stick, and giving them some adult-sized tricycles to ride could make for a safe(r) way of deciding which buyer gets the house.

3) A Beauty Pageant

Sellers may never see the buyers that make an offer on their house again once the transaction is complete… but their neighbors will! So why not give them some say in which buyer should get the house. Holding a beauty pageant with a panel of neighbors as the judges could be an entertaining way to determine who gets to buy the house.

4) Monopoly

Monopoly is literally a game about real estate, so it may very well be the most appropriate way to choose a buyer. The obvious downside is that a game of Monopoly can take hours, if not days to complete, so budget for that if you choose this to go with this option.

5) Spinning the Price Is Right “Big Wheel”

Who doesn’t want a chance to spin the wheel on The Price Is Right?! If buyers knew they could have a chance to give it a whirl, even people who weren’t all that interested in a house might throw a bid into the mix, thus creating an even bigger bidding war!

6) Beer Pong

A beer pong tournament would not only serve as a fun way to figure out which buyer gets the house, it also saves the losing buyers the added step of getting drunk to drown their sorrows after hearing that the owner chose another offer.