How to Win a Bidding War with Your Clients

Let’s face it: this market is unpredictable. In some areas, inventory is creeping up. In others, it still feels like the Wild West. What that means for you? Bidding wars haven’t gone anywhere ... especially for certain property types and price points. And if you're working with first-time buyers, they’re likely feeling the pressure and looking to you for answers.

As a coach who’s helped agents navigate hundreds of these exact scenarios, I want to give you my top 9 strategies to help your buyers not just compete ... but actually win!

1. Know Your 'Stuff'

What I mean is that ... information is king in multiple ways. For one, you want to gather as much info about the property and the seller’s ideal terms (including preferred inclusions and exclusions) as you can.

Secondly, you need as much info as possible on the most recent sales in the area, the locational influences, and potential future proposed changes ... to understand the true market value of the property.

Don’t forget the resale value. Something to seriously consider if the market was to suddenly change and the values to drop.

**2. Be the Agent Listing Agents Want to Work With**

Here’s the truth: listing agents talk. And they remember who made their life easier ... and who made it harder. Sometimes, the agent representing the buyer is what tips the scales.

Professionalism, communication, clean contracts, courtesy and a respectful tone go a long way.

So does knowing how to write an offer that protects your client without scaring the seller off. Every word in a contract matters ... and the more deals you’ve done, the more you realize how true that is.

3. Pre-Inspect When You Can

This isn’t always doable, but when it is, it’s a game-changer. It gives your buyer peace of mind and can allow you to submit an offer without the inspection condition - if that’s the right move. Even if your buyer chooses to keep the condition, a pre-inspection still gives you a heads-up on any red flags and builds confidence in your advice.

4. Make Sure Financing is Airtight

A “cash offer” sounds great ... but let’s be honest, most buyers are financing in some way. Even if the pre-approval looks solid, that doesn’t mean the property will pass the lender’s appraisal process, especially in competitive situations where buyers are going over asking.

Obviously, this is something your clients would discuss with their mortgage professional, but in simplified terms, given the bidding war situation etc., a financing institution will be extra careful to confirm the value of the property before approving a loan to ensure they don’t get stuck with a piece of real estate that they wouldn’t be able to sell again and recoup their investment on, should the mortgagee (buyer) default.

Coach your clients to have a real conversation with their lender. Can they confidently write without a financing condition? Are there any caveats buried in the fine print of their pre-approval?

If their finances are solid and the down-payment substantial, have a conversation with the financial institution and confirm that you are OK to write an offer without a financing condition and that there are no other conditions on the pre-approval letter that could make the deal go sideways.

5. Mindset Matters — for You and Your Client

You might not have thought about it, but it is important. How’s your attitude? What do you expect? What are you focusing on? Are you feeling defeated before you even go into the battle, or do you expect good things from life? Do you focus on all that could go wrong or on all that could go right?

Whether you believe it or not, your actions will always follow your beliefs. Your beliefs are the result of your thoughts. The good news is: You are in control!

I’ve seen buyers talk themselves out of homes before the offer is even submitted. Their energy shifts. They get anxious. They fixate on worst-case scenarios.

As their agent, your confidence can help steady them. When you’ve done the research, you’ve prepped them properly, and they trust your strategy - that confidence carries through.

6. Don’t Underestimate The Deposit

When it comes to writing a deposit cheque to accompany an offer, many buyers believe that it’s not a big deal if it’s just 1-2K. Why would you lock up a larger sum of money in someone’s trust account without getting interest on it? The reality, however, is that your deposit is ‘faith’ money. It shows how serious you are and can really make a statement - either way.

The moment you start house shopping, you want to make sure you have a solid and liquid deposit available at any time because when opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare. We can discuss numbers when we start working together. Consider a home equity line of credit or any other line of credit your financial institution will recommend. If your offer is not accepted, the cheque must be returned to you immediately and without deduction.

7. Declutter Your Offer

I have to preface this. As agents, we want to ‘protect’ our clients’ interests. However, oftentimes and depending on the situation, that protection - aka terms and conditions - can minimize the chances of your offer being accepted. So it’s a bit of a dance that requires tremendous skill, experience and foresight.

In addition to a home inspection and a financing condition, there are a plethora of other conditions and clauses you might need to insert, and it’s something you discuss on a deal-by-deal basis as there is no rule of thumb - other than your fiduciary duty to fully protect your clients' best interest.

Things that can strengthen your offer include the seller’s preferred possession date, as well as inclusions and exclusions and potential promises/warranties.

Consider this scenario: If the preferred possession date was June 1 and the competing offer requests Sept 1 with a bid that is 5K higher than yours, their offer would be inferior IF the cost to carry the house for an extra three months (mortgage, taxes, utilities and insurance) would be higher than 5K. The same is true for inclusions. A set of high-end appliances could easily amount to 10-15K, and the inclusion or exclusion thereof, depending on what the sellers prefer, could make quite the difference for them. The bottom line is that you have to communicate.

That’s how deals get done.

When I represented my buyer, I preferred to write the offer only several hours prior to the offer presentation - if possible. That allowed me to get a good feel on the number of offers my buyer might be up against, and we can adjust the sails accordingly, depending on my buyer's comfort level.

Again, skill and experience matter. (As does spelling and neatness. We’ve all seen things like, “Offer excepted as written.”)

Another thing that can really work in your favour is to make sure your offer has sufficient time for presentation and acceptance. I’ve had offers emailed to me by other agents that were technically already expired by the time we were able to sit down with the sellers, with the note to just change the expiry date and have my sellers initial it if it’s accepted. Excuse me? What about the deposit cheque? Oh right … they’ll drop it off if the offer get’s ‘excepted.’ Would you call that a professional representation and a strong offer - regardless of the number and the conditions in it?

8. Be Available When Offers Are Being Presented

If offers are presented at, let’s say, 7 pm - you want to make sure you and your buyers are around. Now is not a good time to go out for dinner and forget your phone in the car. Also, I would stay close to the location where the offer is presented in case you need to initial some changes or accept a counter but do not ‘hover’ in a place where the sellers can actually see you. You don’t want to create any kind of pressure.

9. Decide On Your Highest Comfortable Number Upfront

This is key. My buyers will often ask me what I think they should offer, or better yet, how much I think the house will go for. Great questions, and the answers depend on where we started in this blog post - point #1. You want to look at the recent sales, the current inventory and days on market, as well as your home buying journey thus far, to decide what this home is worth to you.

I always advised my buyers to get very clear on how much they are willing to go up to before we submit our offer. Yes, I realize that in a multiple offer situation, you want to put your best foot forward and make your best offer right away. However, what if you’re only competing with one other buyer rather than with 3 or 4? No need to shoot a mouse with a shotgun, right?

What are you comfortable spending for this home - and still sleep at night? What’s the number you’re OK with walking away from? Because some bidding wars just aren’t reasonable in the long run as here again - experience is everything. What might seem like ‘crazy’ aka a lot of money for a specific home and location to us locally … could be a steal of a deal to someone from a different province/state where home prices are a lot higher - comparatively.

10. Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Well-Written Letter (With the Right Focus)

I know, I know ... buyer letters aren’t new. And yes, they can be controversial in some areas, especially when fair housing concerns come into play. So always check with your local board and follow the guidelines. But when they are allowed and appropriate? A thoughtful, well-crafted letter can make a huge emotional impact.

What surprises me is how many of these letters completely miss the mark. Most buyer letters read like a heartfelt resume. “We’re newlyweds, we have a golden retriever named Charlie, we love to cook and hope to start a family soon...”

It’s sweet, but here’s the thing:

The seller isn’t looking for a new best friend. They’re looking for a buyer who values the home the way they do.

The most effective letters don’t just tell a story - they make the seller feel special. You want the seller to think, “Ah. They get it. They noticed the little things. They appreciate this house the way I hoped someone would.”

So, coach your buyers to focus on the seller’s home ... not just their own story.

For example: What stood out to them during the showing? Did they notice the care in the garden, the cozy built-ins, the custom pantry? Can they imagine hosting holidays in the dining room the seller designed? Are they excited to continue traditions the seller may have started?

This subtle shift - from “here’s who we are” to “here’s what we love about you and your home” ... can be incredibly powerful.

In a sea of numbers and contracts and conditions, a sincere letter that speaks to the seller’s heart can set your offer apart in ways you can’t always quantify ... but you can feel.

So much more I could write as there is a lot to consider, but I hope this information was helpful to you and offered some valuable insight.

Alina Schumacher

Alina Schumacher is a Certified High-Performance Coach™, host of The Alina Show PODCAST, founder of World-Class Agent Academy, and the author of How To Get Listings & Dominate Your Market ... Even if Nobody's Ever Heard of You! She helps driven Real Estate Professionals all over North America become world-class, build a 6-7 figure fully referral-based business, and reach the TOP 1% - extremely FAST - using her proven 4-stage Market Domination Plan.