We have a choice. Right up until we commit, the outcome of our attempt to buy a house is in the hands of the home buyer. The moment after a person selects the house they want to own they set out to make owning a reality, or a possibility. The probability of the seller’s decision to accept the Offer rises and falls with each precaution against acceptance included and added to the Offer.
Commitment is written all over your Offer. What you are committed to is up to you. We think owning is the overriding intention, but is it? Or, is the first intention to protect our opportunity to change our mind? More often than not, the terms included or added to the Offer say our intention is the latter. Every opportunity to change direction tells the Seller everything they need to know about your intention. At the moment we have the outcome in our hands, why do we begin to back away? Because our intention is not to own. Our intention is to get the opportunity to look closer; to control the situation by becoming the first person out of everyone to decide if we want to own the property.
When buyers compete to own a property, the difference between the Offer of a person committed to owning the property and everyone else is crystal clear. When your Offer is crafted with intent to own your Offer looks like you dare anyone to try to beat you. When the intent is to secure an opportunity to own, you place yourself in the pool of others you at best only hope to beat. Commitment can not be hidden behind contingencies. Each contingency is transparent. They are giant Ifs, buts, maybes.
The Offer to purchase is designed to hedge the buyer’s commitment. Every page of the document comes complete with at least a dozen escape clauses. More often than not, most of these escape hatches and bet hedgers are preferred by buyers. People who think they’re making an offer that shows they dare anyone to try to beat their Offer, would be stunned to discover the fears and cautions inserted in their Offer on their behalf by their Realtor, attorney, or the forms committee belong to someone who is not them.
When your intent is to own, not just secure a chance to change your mind, before committing to representation, or allowing a seller’s agent to craft your Offer, find out what the person knows about the Offer. Discover if they have any ideas to make it clear that you are not their to compete, but you intend to have your Offer accepted, and leave all others trying to compete with you. If you don’t ask, your offer is going to make you look like most other buyers: cautious and uncommitted.
Conceding the opportunity to be the Seller’s first choice should be made with full knowledge of the consequences of each of the ifs, buts, maybes. If rejection isn’t your thing, align yourself with someone skilled in showing your level of intent and commitment in the Offer the draft for you. They’re out there. But you gotta find them.
