It’s no secret that the US housing market is fiercely competitive right now, with homes selling faster and for more money than pre-pandemic levels. With the continued shortage of supply and increasing demand for homes, buyers – and their real estate agents – are left with no other choice but to bring out their most competitive and creative offers to win the deal.
We asked Redfin agents to share the most unbelievable and creative real estate offers they’ve recently worked on or seen that won the deal. Here are 7 offers that beat out the competition and scored buyers their dream homes.
Over asking + expenses + furniture = success
“In a recent successful deal, my buyers offered over $60,000 above the list price and paid the common-interested community demand, transfer fee, and capital contribution,” said Lori Garlick, a Redfin real estate agent in the Las Vegas market.
“The offer also included paying up to $2,000 of the seller’s moving expenses, giving the seller 60 days to lease back their home free of charge, buying most of their furniture, and waiving the appraisal altogether.”
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Even with all the go-to tactics, it was the yearly subscriptions that won the deal
“I had a buyer who had submitted several offers and was ready to pull out all the stops for their dream home. We offered over the list price, added lucky numbers in the offer amount, appraisal gap, waived the home inspection, offered free rent back to the sellers, and more,” said Denver Redfin agent Hunter Owens.
“But what won us the deal was offering to pay for a full year of the Disney Plus bundle (Disney+, Espn+, Hulu) and Amazon Prime. This delighted the sellers so much, they chose our offer,”
A partial appraisal waiver sealed the deal in this real estate offer
“One of my clients offered full price with an escalation clause of up to $50,000 over the asking price. They also offered to beat out other offers by $50,000. On top of that, if the house didn’t appraise for the sale price, they offered to pay a portion between the appraised value and sell price.”
“A partial appraisal waiver has been the key to many of my clients winning in bidding wars,” said New Jersey Redfin agent Shauna Reiter.
The highest escalation increment beats competition
“In the super hot Seattle housing market, the best offers have an escalation increment to show how willing the buyers are to increase their offer. In a recent offer review for my sellers, the top three offers all came in with similar top of escalator amounts, waived contingencies, and early releases of earnest money,” said Redfin agent Nicole McCormick.
“What set the winning party apart was how much they were willing to pay above the next highest offer. Having an escalator double that of the other buyers spoke to the sellers and ultimately won those buyers the home.”
Don’t forget the seller’s state and county transfer and recordation taxes
“The real estate market in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC is more competitive than ever. In addition to offering above the list price with no contingencies, some Maryland buyers are also offering to pay 100% of the seller’s state and county transfer and recordation taxes,” said Redfin agent Bryan Kerrigan.
“However, in Maryland, because a first-time homebuyer is not allowed to pay the state transfer tax for the seller, the buyer will include in the contract a credit to the seller in the amount of the state transfer tax and will indicate that they’ll pay the seller’s county transfer and state recordation taxes.”
Who could say “no” to a free 2-week vacation?
“With such a competitive housing market, waiving inspection and appraisal contingencies are becoming a standard practice. I recently called a listing agent to inquire about offers in hand – there were about 16. She said “it’s going to be tough to beat – the top offer was $65,000 over asking but they also threw in 2 weeks free at their beach timeshare,” shared Stephanie Collins, a Redfin real estate agent in Denver, CO.
Offering a rent-back agreement could sweeten the deal
“My buyers offered $560,000 for a home that was listed at $549,500 and only required an appraisal value of $540,000. Although the home inspection revealed some issues, we got the seller to replace the bad plumbing and electrical panel prior to closing,” said Redfin agent Jennifer England of Boca Raton, Florida.
“When the appraisal came in at $500,000, we convinced the sellers to meet us at $520,000 and offered them 2-3 weeks of free post-closing occupancy. My buyers were overjoyed.”
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Mekaila is a Marketing Program Manager at Redfin and has spent the last 5+ years covering topics like interior design, real estate trends, and buying/selling resources. She lives in the Greater Seattle area and enjoys trying new restaurants, traveling, and spending time with family/friends. She dreams of a modern and warm home with lots of natural light, sunset views, and a backyard perfect for hosting.
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