What is a Seller Thinking in a Multiple Offer Scenario?

May 19, 2022
Author: Heather Connor, Realtor

Previously, we covered what exactly happens in a multiple offer situation and what that experience looks like for you as a buyer. Now, we’ll dive into what the seller thinks about during the situation.

I'm asked this question all the time. When you're in a competitive situation like this and we’re in there making an offer, my buyers always ask me, what do you think we should offer. They will let me know contingencies they can waive, they will let me know what they’re agreeable to on terms, and they always want to know, how much do you think will get us there to win this? What do you think we news to do? What do you think the seller wants? What do you think the other offers will be? As you guys know, I don't know the answer unless the other agent shares that information with me.

To get this right off the bat–the way that we work in Colorado is that if the seller gives the agent authorization to share the data about those other offers then they can do so but, what I find from a leverage standpoint is that the listing agent will usually suggest to the seller that they don’t offer that information and it keeps the playing level really clean and fair for all parties that are making offers. Again, the seller can do as they wish and they can instruct their agent to release information about other offers. They can give you suggestions on where you need to be to win or they can simply not share any data.

So… What is the Seller Thinking in a Multiple Offer Scenario?

I want you to think about the five, ten, or 50 closest people you know, and I think it’s fair to say that none of us are alike. There are a million personality type indicators out there like MBTI (Myres Briggs Type Indicator); there’s Enneagram for those who are familiar; there’s love language; there’s Kolbe which is a personal favorite of mine from a coaching course I use to take. There are a million different indicators that are meant to try to help categorize our emotional and thought processes and behavioral processes of us as human beings. And then within those, we layer different aspects and experiences that make us all basically very complex human beings. My answer is you never know what is going through a seller’s head.

What you want me to say probably is, “If I were the seller this is what I would do.” But when I answer that, what I’m really doing is just sharing with you what I would do if I were in that position coming from my standpoint, my experience, and where I currently am in my life. We don’t know what’s happening in the seller’s life. They may choose the highest and best because they just don’t need to sell. They might not care if it sells during this time of multiple offers. They might not care about sales now or if it sells in five years, or if it sells ever. For them, they might just say “If the price is right, great! We’re gonna go for the highest offer and if that falls through we don’t actually care, we’ll just wait until somebody else makes an offer like that.” 

 

There might be folks that have to move because of health reasons. That’s actually a big one here in our area. Crested Butte is very unique in that we have a very high altitude. One of our biggest things is our lack of access to healthcare. You might find folks that come down with a life condition or some type of scenario or maybe they just have a family situation and it’s not even them and they are just forced to move. And in their case, they do need to sell a home. They may say “We need this much,” “We want to get this much,” or  “We want to walk away with this amount of money from this sale.” But they may not take the highest offer if they’re not a hundred percent certain that that buyer can perform. And so what that could look like is if you have somebody that’s all cash and waives all contingencies and promises to close in two weeks and they know that’s a sure thing. They might have another offer that’s $10,000-30,000 higher, but that sense of security that it will close on the time frame that they need so that they can move forward with the plans that they need for what’s happening in their life at the moment–that could cause them to accept that the offer. So my answer is we always want to think that other people will make decisions based on the way that we might make decisions.

 

The answer is that we are all very different. We have a different ways of processing information and coming to a decision. They might be more factual and logical, they might be more emotional, they might even be a situation and life-based, there can be so many more reasons, but in the end, all I can do is give you the best option of winning by sharing what we can control and all the things we can control is how we show up in the offer process.

I hope this is helpful. If you have more questions about this, I’m always happy to chat it out. Just shoot me a DM asking to set up a time to talk. If you want to really just talk about preparing for and understanding the offer process, shoot me a DM and just make some type of note in there letting me know what you’re looking for.

Text “Buyer Offer Preparedness” to 970.440.2975
We would be happy to talk about that and strategize and make sure that you are what I call Buyer Type #1. If you would like to know what that means, we talked about the three different buyer types in our previous post. It’s also a really good video for you to watch if you are in this process or if you’re starting the process.

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