Multiple Offers Causing Buyers Anxiety

Multiple Offers Causing Buyers Anxiety

Multiple offers are causing buyer anxiety in the real estate market right now. First-time homebuyers are most affected by the rising real estate values but buyers in all price ranges are experiencing competition for the best new listings hitting the market.

If you are a savvy buyer you have teamed with a knowledgeable Realtor who has set up a direct feed from the MLS to your email inbox. As soon as a new listing is entered in the MLS you get an email notifying you that a home in your zip code and in the Princeton School for the Gifted attendance district with 3 bedrooms and a basement has hit the market. And because you missed out on the last listing that looked good you text your Realtor and ask to see the market today – because you know other savvy buyers are doing the same thing. You go see the home at 7777 Bliss Street and it is almost perfect – except for the leaky basement – but that can be fixed.

You and your Realtor work out the terms of the offer you want to make. Your savvy Realtor does all the signing of the sales contract electronically and by 6:00 that evening your fully executed offer hits the inbox of the listing Agent for that perfect home at 7777 Bliss Street. You sit back and anxiously wait for the seller’s acceptance.

But – dang it – what you get is a text from your buyers agent that there are multiple offers and a call for “highest and best” offers has been issued by the listing agent. You have to let the Listing Agent know your highest and best offer by noon the next day. What you have is a high anxiety situation because you have just entered a game of high stakes poker with a call to ante up to the pot. And you have no idea how much the other buyers have offered! You are making a blind bet on the other buyers’ offers.

Which poker terms best describes your situation?

ANTE: A small bet all players are required to make before a hand is dealt. An ante is similar to a blind, but everyone has to contribute it before a hand commences. Antes give the pot a value right off the bat.

ALL-IN: A bet that places all of a player’s chips into the pot.CALL: To contribute the minimum amount of money to the pot necessary to continue playing a hand.

CHECK: To pass on betting. If there’s no action (bet) to you, there’s nothing to call. If you don’t want to bet, you can just “check.” If there’s subsequent action from your fellow players in the betting round, then the action will come back to you to either call, fold or raise.

CHECK-RAISE: A check-raise is made when a player checks on the first opportunity to bet and later raises any subsequent bet in the same betting round.

CALL: To contribute the minimum amount of money to the pot necessary to continue playing a hand.

CHECK: To pass on betting. If there’s no action (bet) to you, there’s nothing to call. If you don’t want to bet, you can just “check.” If there’s subsequent action from your fellow players in the betting round, then the action will come back to you to either call, fold or raise.

CHECK-RAISE:A check-raise is made when a player checks on the first opportunity to bet and later raises any subsequent bet in the same betting round.

COLD CALL: To call two or more bets on your turn. If a pot has been bet and raised before it gets to you, and then you call, you’re cold calling.

DRAW: Remaining in a hand in the hopes of improving it. For example, you don’t have anything concrete yet, but need one or more cards for a straight or a flush. If you call (or raise) a round of betting to see if the needed card(s) come, you are said to be “drawing.” The two most common draws are flush draws (drawing for a flush) and straight draws (drawing for a straight). You can also draw for a three of a kind, full house, or better.

FOLD: To give up by placing your cards face down on the table, losing whatever you have bet so far. You only fold when you think your hand is too weak to compete against the other players.

RAISE: To wager more than the minimum required to call, forcing other players to put in more money as well.

As a homebuyer you are in the biggest poker game of your life. Betting on real estate worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And all you wanted was a nice place to call home. These multiple offers are causing buyers anxiety!