Selling Your Home? Start a Bidding War in 8 Steps

What is a bidding war, and why do home sellers encourage them?

A bidding war occurs when multiple buyers submit offers on a property for sale, usually driving up the sale price. It’s more than that, though: to create the desired response, listings must be very desirable, and the listing price must be well-calculated.

When a listing ignites a bidding war, the home sellers will typically make tens of thousands of dollars above the listing price at sale. It’s a great strategy to leverage, especially as the real estate market becomes slightly more competitive, but it doesn’t always produce the intended results. Follow these tips for the best chance to start a good bidding war when listing your home for sale.

8 steps to starting a bidding war

1. Get an awesome agent

You can’t navigate the battle without a seasoned veteran. Don’t look for a fight without an amazing real estate agent on your team. The right one will help you prepare your home and listing, price and market it right, and then create the marketing conditions that spark a bidding war. The process requires knowledge and experience that homeowners usually don’t possess alone.

2. Make pre-listing home repairs and improvements

Investing in your home before selling it definitely pays off – especially in a marketplace that’s increasingly more competitive for sellers. “Move-in-ready” is the standard for homes that fetch top dollar. And current home shoppers respond enthusiastically to homes in great shape, without major renovations or repairs needed to enjoy their new properties immediately.

What do you stand to lose when you sell your property as-is? Tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line. Not to mention, your digital curb appeal won’t shine as brightly. Without improvements and staging, property listing photos simply don’t have the same magnetism. A less marketable home has lowered chances of igniting a bidding war than one that looks and feels fresh.

Do you need help managing pre-listing home repairs and improvements? Curbio’s award-winning, turnkey home improvement services remove the hassle. From simple maintenance to entire renovations, our pre-sale home improvement model makes it possible to turn your home into a competitive listing.

3. Immaculately stage and photograph your property

To instigate a bidding war, your listing must be irresistible, with mass appeal. Invest in professional staging and photography services. They will sell your home so much better than your efforts alone. Online listings account for the vast majority of first impressions.

4. Intentionally list your home at a price 5k to 10k lower than its value

Once your house is all glown up and looking fly in photos, set an attention-grabbing price before going live with your listing. This step will rely heavily on your real estate agent’s savvy. A strategic agent will pull comps and consider current market conditions to price your property listing accurately. Once you’ve determined the most realistic value for your home, list it for 5 to 10 thousand dollars below that figure to command the attention of home buyers familiarizing themselves with the local inventory.

5. Implement a proactive marketing plan

Another reason a pro agent is a pre-requisite to any bidding war business is the exposure, baby! The best agents are rockstar marketers. There are standard MLS listings that every real estate agent will generate when your property is for sale. Still, many agents will specialize in advertising properties in the appropriate media channels where local buyers and buying agents will view them.

6. Be available for all listing requests

Once your listing is live, make viewings a priority! Plan to make your home available for all viewings; the more people see it in real life, the greater your chances of receiving official offers.

7. Set a deadline for offers

You should do one last thing to activate a bidding war and encourage multiple buyers to submit offers within a specific window: SET. A. DEADLINE.

Your best chance at pitting potential buyers against each other and raising the asking price of your home is to require them to submit offers within a specific time. You create a sense of urgency and awareness of the competition with a deadline; it’s an excellent move for confident home sellers.

8. Make sure bidders are pre-qualified

There’s nothing more disappointing than seeing your house bid on and its price increase only to learn one of the bidders isn’t qualified for a loan. Ask for pre-approval letters as prospective buyers submit their offers on your home.

Ignite a bidding war over your home listing – Curbio can help

Make your home irresistible when you list it for sale. We would love to help you complete all of your pre-listing home improvements that translate to a competitive listing.