As we head into a weekend which will no doubt see quite a few bidding wars ensue I wanted to share my thoughts with you. These are taken from the perspective of a Buyers Agent. As a Seller’s Agent I would do everything in my legal power to counter all this advice.

This is paraphrased from an email I sent a client in response to one of his questions about the specter of an impending bidding war on any of the properties we are looking at today.

. There are so many factors involved but quite a lot has to do with underpricing and luck. A home, if asking $1 will clearly go over asking. A $600,000 asking $1m will likely expire without any offers at all (and I meet those kinds of sellers with their heads in the clouds eyes almost everyday).

When a house gets a frenzy of activity the final sales price is likely to be well past rational and the only winner is, truly, the seller. All those buyers push themselves beyond reason to “win” a home they likely should have just said “pass” to when it gets beyond reason. We have seen two such homes where a ridiculous sum was eventually paid recently.

Always keep that in mind. I don’t say this to scare you off but remember that you have to live with the result in the end. I’d rather you be absolutely comfortable with the offers you make (and I know you and are very diligent about this!) as missing on one home is far better than overpaying for 25 years on it.

The ultimate advice I can give to any buyer facing a multiple offer is to make YOUR best offer. Have the inspection done in advance. Have the deposit cheque in hand. Know that your financing is A-OK. And then make a subject-free offer based on an amount that you are absolutely comfortable with.

Do not act purely on emotion with a “win at all costs” attitude. A house is just an organized pile of wood, stucco, plaster, metal and glass. A home is what you make out of it over time. The first is a matter to deal with rationally. The second is purely emotional and you will likely find priceless in the end.

What is all that rambling about? Ultimately if you “lose” on the first one to someone who will go beyond any tolerable reasoning do not regret it. Instead look at it as an opportunity to find the next one. And there always is a “next one”.

I am not a religious man but I am spiritual and I do believe that forces align and homes pick their owners (no matter what we may think).

As for the Sellers this weekend: Good luck and have fun… unless you don’t get any offers. Then you really need to figure out why not when so many are.

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