Home Buying Process
How to Win a Competitive Home Offer
Your Roadmap to a Confident Home Purchase
Whether you’re buying for the first time or the fifth, having a clear understanding of the home buying process makes all the difference.
My comprehensive Home Buyer Overview walks you through every stage—from financing and offer strategy to inspections, closing, and beyond—so you can navigate your purchase with clarity, confidence, and fewer surprises.
In a competitive real estate market, writing a winning offer means more than just bidding high. This video walks you through proven strategies that can strengthen your offer—without overextending your budget or sacrificing important protections. It’s a must-watch for buyers who are preparing to compete against multiple offers and want to stand out to sellers.
What You’ll Learn in This Video:
The role of price, escalation clauses, and above-list offers
When and why buyers waive financing and appraisal contingencies
Alternatives to waiving home inspection—and how pre-inspections work
How to improve your offer by covering seller costs or increasing your EMD
Special considerations if you’re using FHA or VA financing
What’s on the market now? Customize your home search.
Ready to start the process? Schedule a brief conversation.
Adam Tabaka (00:00):
Alright, so you’ve decided to place an offer on a property in a competitive situation. How should you go about structuring your offer to give you the best chance of securing the property? Now, the primary margin along which buyers are generally going to compete is going to be price. Typically, that’s going to look like an offer above list price, an offer with an escalation addendum above list price, or a combination of the two. You might also consider waiving contingencies.
(00:31):
Now, if you’re very well qualified for the property on which you intend to submit, you might consider waiving the financing contingency. Financing is the most frequently waived contingency as data show that 96% of pre-approved buyers will receive conditional commitment.
(00:48):
If you have sufficient cash reserves, you might consider waiving the appraisal contingency. Without the protection of the appraisal contingency, if the property fails to appraise at the contracted price, you will need to bring additional cash to settlement to cover the delta.
(01:04):
And lastly, is the big one – the home inspection contingency. Now, while the decision is ultimately yours, it’s not recommended that you waive this contingency for obvious reasons. With that said, you might, however, with seller permission, consider conducting a pre-inspection prior to writing your offer, which might enable you to waive the home inspection contingency.
(01:27):
If you’re making an offer with FHA or VA financing, waiving the appraisal contingency won’t necessarily work as that protection can’t be waived with those programs. But if you have sufficient cash reserves, you could consider offering to pay some or all of the seller’s closing costs. In fact, this is an approach that any buyer in a competitive situation can employ.
(01:49):
And one more strategy that you might consider employing would be offering a sizable earnest money deposit. The more skin in the game you have, the more credible your offer will be.
(02:00):
Want to learn more? Check out my Home Buyer Overview. Ready to get the process started? Give me a call or schedule time with me down below. Until next time, take it easy.
Your Roadmap to a Confident Home Purchase
Whether you’re buying for the first time or the fifth, having a clear understanding of the home buying process makes all the difference.
My comprehensive Home Buyer Overview walks you through every stage—from financing and offer strategy to inspections, closing, and beyond—so you can navigate your purchase with clarity, confidence, and fewer surprises.