Here are four ways to increase the power of your offers in today's hot market.

If you’re looking to buy a home in this market and find one you love, chances are that it will get multiple offers. The more offers it gets, the less likely you are to win that bidding war. Fortunately, today I’ll share four steps you can take to ensure that you end up with the winning bid on your next home:

1. Make sure you’re ready to purchase. Speak with a trusted lender to get pre-approved for a home loan so that you understand how much buying power you have. Take care of this sooner rather than later so that by the time you’re ready to submit an offer, all your financial ducks are in a row.

2. Make the offer higher than the list price. That might sound crazy, but in today's volatile market, it's often necessary. Supply is short, and demand is high. Buyers have to find ways to appeal to sellers if they want to stand out.

"Include a letter in your offer that shows what that property would mean to you."

3. Consider waiving unnecessary contingencies—but tread lightly. Buyers often get too aggressive when it comes to this, so be sure to look at each one of yours very closely with your real estate advisor to determine if it’s needed.

4. Write the seller a “love letter.” This is a letter to the seller explaining why you want their home so much. When you put your goals down in your own words, it gives them insight into what kind of person you are and what intentions you have with their current property. For example, if they’ve put a lot of time, passion, and purpose into the home, they might want to see another passionate family move in after them. It never hurts to include a letter in your offer that shows the seller what that property will mean to you if you’re fortunate enough to be the winning buyer.

If you have questions about submitting offers or anything else to do with real estate, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to help you.