What to Do When You Are Outbid on a Home

Home sales are competitive right now. In many markets, offering the asking price isn’t enough to guarantee that you will be able to purchase the home. With buyers offering more and more, what can you do if you are outbid on a home?

Up Your Offer

The simplest way to make sure that the seller considers your offer as well is to offer a higher purchase price. You can also offer to cover more or all of the closing costs so that the seller walks away with a larger portion of the sale’s price.

Be wary of offering more than you can reasonably afford or more than the house is worth. If your financing is subject to an appraisal, the home will still need to be valued at the loan amount or your lender will not approve your loan. It can be tempting to increase your offer, especially if you have fallen in love with a house, but make sure that you are still making good financial decisions. Having an impartial party, like a real estate agent, to help you navigate that process can help.

Change Your Contingencies

If you have a lot of contingencies in your offer, such as wanting the sellers to fix certain things or allow for a longer closing period, you may be able to waive or change some of those to make your offer more appealing.

Some sellers would be happy to accept a lower purchase price if it means that they can close sooner. Others don’t want to be bothered with repairs and inspections that might derail the sale. Find out what the priority is for the sellers and see if you can work with them to make your offer stand out.