Lately, many buyers have experienced the “multiple offer” notice after making an offer on a home. The notice usually asks the buyer to make their “highest and best” offer by a certain date.
One of our clients has been through this on three homes and by the time they received notice that the home was sold to another buyer, their second choice was also under contract. Talk about frustrating!
The buyer finally asked, “Can I make offers on more than one home at a time?”
Buyers can make offers on more than one home. While less experienced agents will argue that it’s not legal or the buyer could get stuck with more than one contract, there’s nothing illegal about making offers on more than one home.
The logical follow-up question was, “What happens if both are accepted?”
In Texas our state promulgated contracts contain a paragraph that allows a buyer to purchase the “unrestricted right to terminate the contract” for a certain number of days for a nominal fee. This paragraph is the key to buyers making offers on more than one property at a time. If more than one offer is accepted, the buyer can simply “opt out” on the property they do not wish to purchase.
While this is not a technique we encourage, in a hot seller’s market or when time is very limited making offers on more than one home may be a good idea as long as the offers include the unrestricted right to terminate.
Photo licensed from iStockPhoto
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