Good afternoon!! 

These are fun times we're in! A lot of homes that sell are getting multiple offers, often way WAY over asking, and often in very quick timeframes. It can be pretty hard on a buyer- you find a home you love, you schedule a time to see it....and it goes pending before you even get in. Or you do get to see it, you love it, and then your agent tells you they have 16 offers and have a deadline of 5pm tonight to get your offer in. Maybe you see it, immediately get an offer in knowing they don't have any others....and then they tell you that they're going to wait to answer for 4 days so they can get as many offers as possible. I've seen all of this and more, and I understand and appreciate that it can be really really rough on a buyer. 

So what can you do? 

First and foremost, be preapproved. If you are financing this purchase (meaning you don't have the $350k in your checking account that you are going to purchase the home with), you need to get that preapproval locked down ASAP. DO NOT wait until you find a house you love. Think about all of those scenarios I mentioned before- you do not have time to get a preapproval once you find a great home. It is not instant (and if you're using an online approval that IS instant, it is not reputable, and other agents will advise their sellers of that) and if you find a great home Saturday that has a deadling of Sunday, you will not have time. Sure, we can write an offer anyway, and say we will get a preapproval, but think that through- they got 15 preapproved buyers and 1 who isn't really ready- who is the easiest one to put in the "no" pile first? 

Next- you need to be ready for the crazy and ready to listen to your agent. They aren't lying when they tell you the home already has offers, or that they expect it to go above listing. If they're good, they know the market, and will know when a home is listed unreasonably high and might sit versus being priced well and likely to go higher. Do not assume you know more than them- if I had a dollar for everyone that lost a home they wanted because they assumed the other agent was lying, I'd have.....at least $10. Be prepared for this and be ready to offer as much as you are actually ready to lose the house for. That's a little confusing...what does that mean, "be ready to offer as much as you are actually ready to lose the house for"? Well, an example. The house is listed at $415,000. You know you'd be willing to go as high as $430, but $431 sounds too high. Should you offer $420 and hope that's high enough, but also hope they'll give you a chance to go to $430? NOOOOOO. NO. NO. You should be ready to offer as high as you're willing to pay. The honest truth is you're not going to know what the other offers are, and it's unlikely you will be given a chance to change your offer. If you would see that it closed at $429 and think DANGIT I WOULD HAVE DONE $430, then you need to be at $430 in the first place.

Third- it isn't always just about money. Obviously, is is often about money. But not always. Are the sellers still living in the home? Have they found a replacement home? If they are still there and need to get into contract to buy their replacement home, you might be able to offer them some time in the home after closing. This can be free time or paid time (obviously free time is more enticing) and can help them transition into their new home, and can put you over a similar offer with no time built in. There are other things you can do too, depending on your comfort level- you can reduce your inspection period time, agree to take the home as-is (meaning you won't ask for any repairs), or waive your appraisal contingency- these bring more risk to the buyer, and should be discussed with your agent to really understand the risk you're taking on, but are ways people are winning multiple offer situations. 

It sounds like a lot, but it is doable! You need to be ready and listen to your agent, but it can be done!