When we first talked about selling your home we went through all the things you should do to get a great result, and you did everything right. You got rid of a ton of stuff! You cleaned the place from top to bottom and took care of all the needed repairs. We carefully staged your house, choosing a few cute vases and books, and throwing blankets to make it look spacious and tasteful. We had great photographs taken and wrote an inviting description for the listing. We set the stage and invited the buyers in, and they felt just how special the place is. Now you have multiple offers, and it’s kind of overwhelming!
This is the part that’s hard to plan for because you really don’t know exactly what the market response is going to be. And everyone seems so nice and deserving! Of course, you want to do as well as you can financially, and most people will be inclined to just take the top offer, however you need to also make sure you’re taking the best offer. The best offer is the one that carries the lowest risk of the transaction failing because having to go back on the market after a failed deal can damage the perception of the value of your property.
If there are several offers right around the same price, a cash offer will always be more attractive than one with a loan, because you don’t have to bear the risk that the buyer won’t qualify for a loan, or that the property won’t appraise at contract value. So if the top offer is all cash, you’re in luck. Often, however, a cash offer will not be the highest because the cash buyer will use the lower risk associated with his offer to try and leverage a better price, and a buyer with a loan will try and compensate the seller for the additional risk. If the top offers all have loans, you are incurring less risk by choosing the buyer who is borrowing a lower percentage of the purchase price and has more cash on hand to make up for any shortfalls in the appraisal. You are also reducing risk by choosing a buyer with a strong credit score, or a good job with a solid income, who won’t have trouble qualifying for a loan. And then there’s the softer side of the decision, where you listen to your gut about who seems like a reasonable person to do business with. If a buyer or their agent makes you feel uncomfortable or pressured, trust your instincts because the last thing you want is a buyer who ties up your property and then cancels the sale, leaving other buyers to wonder what was wrong with it. A few thousand dollars may not be worth the anxiety of a difficult sale!
