Multiple offers part 1

So heres a little run down on Multiple Offers as they pertain to our region. In the last few months properties that have been priced aggressively have usually resulted in multiple offers. Since the average buyer is most motivated by a fear of loss, this usually results in driving the price of the house higher than it might normally sell for in an arms-length transaction. If you, as a buyer, are faced with the prospect of competing, my advice is as follows; 1. First of all if you're the first offer in and a second offer comes in within the irrevocable period, that second offer will in most cases be for full asking price or more. Those second buyers know there's an offer and want to house enough to pay full price or more. You should be given ample opportunity to improve your offer. You will not usually get a counter offer so make this shot count, it will probably be your only chance. 2. The irrevocable period your offer is good for can make the difference. The irrevocable is the amount of time your offer is good for, or more specifically the time until which your offer is valid. If you set it short and your offer is good and the sellers are agreeable you can get the house for a decent price and theres no problem. If you leave it long another offer can come in within the irrevocability period. If they are going to counter the offer the irrevocable time period is irrelevant because they are effectively refusing your offer and creating a new one for you to respond to. 3. If they counter your offer, they are writing it back to you and will make it irrevocable by the seller to the buyer until a certain period of time. During this time period no offer can compete with you, however if their counter offer is not good enough for you and you create a counter back to them another offer can compete at that point. more to follow.....