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Buyers want their offers presented to the sellers as soon as possible. Sellers whose homes have been on the market for months are usually prepared to hear offers anytime. But, in some markets, sellers set a time schedule for listening to offers, and often they won't entertain an offer before the designated time.
A seller's decision about hearing offers should be based on current market conditions. There are several options. One possibility is to listen to offers as they are written. This means you're ready to hear an offer anytime after your home hits the market. Another option is to wait awhile before hearing offers, and establish a preset date and time for offer presentations. Or, you might prefer to hear offers anytime after a certain date, with no set schedule for presentations.
Why wait to hear offers? By waiting until the property has received significant market exposure, you may be able to sell for a higher price and for better terms.
HOME SELLER TIP:
In a low inventory, high demand market, playing the waiting game can really pay off. Recently, the sellers of a home in Oakland received 17 offers by waiting through a broker open house, two Sunday open houses and dozens of showings over a week and a half time period. Then their house sold for more than $100,000 over the list price.
For this strategy to be effective, the property must be priced competitively. An over-priced property won't elicit multiple offers no matter how long the seller waits. In fact, waiting to hear offers when a listing is overpriced can work against you.
When buyers are told that the sellers are waiting to hear offers, they assume that the sellers expect more than one offer. If the listing is priced too high, buyers tend to back away because they won't pay more for an over-priced listing. Sellers who end up with no offers after waiting awhile may need to lower the price to renew interest in the property.
The waiting strategy can actually sabotage your marketing effort in a soft, buyer's market. With a large inventory of listing to choose from, buyers are in the driver's seat. There will be plenty of listings they can buy without having to wait. Waiting to hear offers can also be off-putting in a balanced market.
Sellers who plan to use the waiting strategy should let agents and prospective buyers know this before offers are written. An enthusiastic buyer could turn into a disgruntled buyer if he's told after the offer is written that it can't be presented for a week or so.
Some sellers find it impossible to list at a competitive price. A competitive price is one that's at the low end of the expected selling price range. The fear is that by pricing competitively, they might sell too low. In a low-inventory, competitive market, you won't sell too low as long as you adequately expose your property to the market before hearing offers.
Sellers who choose to list competitively in a seller's market often prefer to wait until after the initial marketing effort before hearing offers. If you don't want to set a specific date for offers, you might plan to hear offers anytime after the broker's and public open houses.
THE CLOSING:
This strategy is less threatening to buyers who are intimidated by a date certain for offers. It lets the sellers get the news out about their new listing while not intentionally pitting buyers against one another in a bidding war.
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