Nine ways to win a bidding war for a house

While sellers won’t necessarily take their first offer, see the property as early as possible and make an offer quickly so you are at the front of the line. Also, figure out when the seller wants to settle. If the property is vacant, the answer is probably “right now,” so make your proposed settlement date as quickly as your lender and title company can make it happen.

While it’s not recommended to buy a house without a home inspection, if other buyers waive the inspection contingency you may be pushed out of the potential buyer pool. You can have a home inspection before you make an offer if you have a home inspector immediately available. Sometimes, sellers provide a home inspector’s report or you can have an information-only inspection after your offer is accepted. You are taking on some risk here, so make sure you have enough money set aside for unplanned repairs and use this plan with caution if you will be cashstrapped after settlement.

If you have plenty of cash reserves to cover a gap between a low appraisal — which will limit the amount you can borrow — and your offer, you can waive the appraisal contingency. But be careful — you don’t want to overpay for a property or be forced to drain your savings. A good real estate agent can help you evaluate the value of a property.

Now that offers are typically sent in electronically, a personal letter to the sellers could make them feel emotionally drawn to selling to you over another buyer. You can also offer to rent back the home to the sellers, close when they want and meet any other reasonable requirements they may have.

An escalation clause is an addendum to your offer that allows your buyer’s agent to increase your offer to a certain amount above the best offer the seller receives, such as $1,000 over any other offer, not to exceed X dollars above your initial offer. Before you use an escalation clause, make sure you can comfortably afford the extra money if the price goes to your limit and your offer is accepted. If the amount is above your approved loan limit, you may have to come up with the difference in cash.

When multiple offers are made on a property, it can be easy to get drawn into the competition and overpay or overextend yourself. While buying a house is an exciting, emotional time, it should also be a time when you’re financially careful. Remind yourself of the maximum amount you were willing to pay, and if this bidding war gets too pricey, you may want to move on to the next.