4 Tips To Spark A Bidding War When Selling Your Home

By Kurt Real Estate Nov 23, 2019

When selling your home, there are no guarantees as to what price you will get for it. Yes, you run the comps, you crunch the numbers, and, if you have a good agent to guide you, you set a price that is competitive. However, even now when the market is hot, you often don’t know how the bidding will play out. As a seller, the question lingers on your mind, how do I incite a bidding war? Here’s how.

1. Set a deadline for offers. The psychology of this is simple – people don’t want to miss out. Give them a deadline and they feel the pressure to submit an offer if they’re at all interested so they don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Be careful: only do this if you know you’ve priced the house well. If the home is overpriced, this strategy will not work in your favor. If it is, you may see yourself getting offers above the asking price…and wouldn’t that be nice!

2. Use different angles in your listing photos. Most listings have the same, boring feature photos – straight-on shots of the front of the house. These images lack interest and dimension. Substitute your regular listing photo routine for something different. Try corner angles and wider lenses to get a broader sense of the space. This will create intrigue and interest in the simplest of ways. Not every buyer is going to go through all 40 pictures of your home in the MLS. Be sure to captivate them with the first few images.

3. Fuel interest ahead of time. Market your property before it hits the MLS and don’t allow showings until the first open house weekend. Use social media, email, and sites like Zillow and Craigslist to announce your new listing and the upcoming open house times. Again, people don’t want to miss out on an opportunity and they want to be the first to know.

4. Stage a top-notch open house. Put up as many open house signs as possible. Depending on the size of the property, go above and beyond to make the open house an event to attend rather than just another open house. Prep your home with good food and a unique feature that will attract the most people possible. Some extravagant open houses feature some form of entertainment like live music or a DJ.

At the end of the day, you want to get the most for your money so don’t make an investment in selling your home that will not pay for itself. Price your home right and use these tips to create interest and get as many offers as possible.