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Carla Bouchard

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Speak Up

In our local current market, buyers can still take advantage of the low interest rates to get into the housing market (or buy-up), while the seller gets to reap the rewards of year-on-year increases in the selling price. But just because the market is good doesn't mean that every house will receive multiple offers. So if your house doesn't, don't take it to heart.

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Just because the market is good, sellers shouldn’t automatically expect multiple offers

There are a number of factors for this. After all, even in brisk real estate markets, not all homes receive equal attention.

Still, most sellers would rather have their homes be the ones sought after. Whether you will receive multiple offers depends on several things. One is the nature of the local real estate market.

In general, if there are more buyers than sellers, you tend to see more multiple offers. But this doesn't mean that every house will sell this way. Even in a seller's market, some price ranges will be more active than other ones.

For instance, you may have a better chance of receiving multiple offers if you're selling an entry-level home than if you're selling an upper-tier property. Normally there are fewer buyers for the more expensive properties.

Other factors are the condition and the location of your property. Generally, the listings that are in the best condition attract the most attention. Listings in prime locations like near shopping areas, a hospital (particularly for older buyers) or near a good school (for younger families) will attract more buyers than will listings in less desirable locations.

The condition of your home is important, but even fixer-uppers can draw multiple offers if they're priced right. Well-priced fixer listings are popular with buyers who are searching for an investment that has upside potential. If all the structure itself and its attributes needs is a little professional elbow grease to make it shine, then there is the possibility of multiple offers. However, a harder sell is a listing that has something that you can't control, like a location near a noisy high traffic road.

If your home needs a lot of work and you're selling it like that, then it's a good idea to have credible reports available that describe the condition, including the cost to make necessary repairs. These reports should be taken into account when you select a list price. The same can be true for smaller items like new front steps or a driveway. Make sure that prospective buyers review these reports before they make an offer. This way they know you know how much these repairs are worth.

Another factor in receiving less-than-desirable interest in a property is a lack of adequate exposure to the market. It's unlikely that your home will receive multiple offers if no one is aware that it's for sale. Therefore, make sure to take advantage of your real estate professional's sales and marketing knowledge in order to get your home out front.

Perhaps overall though, the biggest factor to multiply offers is pricing.

Quite simply, many of the listings that sell with multiple offers, are listed under market value. In most cases, the final selling price usually ends up being, or close to, the fair market price in that area. Some sellers though will intentionally set their price low to attract more interest. But this can be a risky strategy. Especially if you get only one offer and it's much less than what you're willing to live with.

But, if you're selling a home in a seller's market and you're not getting much buyer interest, the most likely reason for this is that your home is priced too high for the market. Buyers often shy away from over-priced listings. In this case, the best way to encourage more activity is to reduce your asking price, but not so much that you're asking too little as we mentioned above. That could be risky. Rely on your real estate professional's advice and you should be priced just right.

So if your home falls under the great location, great price, desirable style categories, and you've fixed things up a bit, have marketed well, then there is a very real possibility of multiple offers. And if that's the case, then be sure to weigh all offers equally before you sit back and choose.

* Carla Bouchard is owner/broker of Royal LePage Metro in Moncton. Her column appears each Saturday in Home & Garden.