4 Ways to Make Your Offer Stand Out in Central Florida

Finding the right house for any buyer takes a lot of time and effort. Once you’ve found the place that feels right for you, it’s important to get negotiations started off on the right foot. In order to give your offer that extra oomph, here are 4 ways to make your offer stand out against the competition in Central Florida.

Call in the Professionals

The first critical step in buying any home is to shop around and hire a qualified and experienced real estate professional that will have your back from beginning to end.

They will certainly help in finding properties in your budget that fulfill your needs, but they will shine once the paperwork and negotiations come into play. Asking your agent for their professional opinion and taking that advice to heart will often work out in your favor.

Remember that your agent works in your best interests and has networking connections they’ve accumulated over their years working in the local market. This will allow them to keep in constant communication with fellow real estate agents so they can do their best to create a deal that works out well for you while keeping the seller at the table.

There will be few things that can do as much for you when looking to purchase a home like hiring the right agent.

Show You’re Serious

It’s easy for both buyers and sellers to get wrapped up in thinking about offers simply from a total cash value perspective, and little else.

You want to come out of the gate displaying some level of commitment to purchasing the home, and your offer will be the method of conveying that commitment.

Earnest money is an amount of money you determine to put down in good faith toward the purchase of the home and to very directly indicate your intent on pursuing the purchase beyond throwing numbers on paper back and forth through negotiations. A typical amount of committed earnest money would be between 1 and 3% of the value of the home.

A more personal approach to make your offer stand out is a personal letter to the seller explaining why you are so interested in buying their home. Adding that human angle to the offer can mean absolutely nothing to some sellers or make a world of difference to others.

Strengthen Your Case

With some basic financial commitment and a personal touch rounding things off, it’s time to bring in the heavy hitters to prove you can walk the walk.

Being pre-approved for your mortgage and providing a pre-approval letter from your lender demonstrates that you have all of your ducks in a row and care about the details.

Another option to consider is an escalation clause. An escalation clause is wording in your offer that states you are willing to continue topping any additional offers the buyer receives up to a certain amount. To most people, this sounds like writing the seller a blank check, but there’s a catch.

Any escalation clause must include language stating that if the buyer accepts your offer, the seller is forbidden from issuing multiple counter offers with any other buyer.

Be Flexible

The last bit that softens negotiations and allows for more give and take is understanding the seller’s circumstances and allowing for reasonable contingencies and a timeline for closing.

Being sure to not become too picky and controlling with your contingencies gives the buyer some breathing room but keeps the process moving. At the same time, expecting inspections and closing to take at the very least a month is a good place to start.

Do your best to allow for the seller to prepare everything and make the move without rushing them.