Multiple offer scenarios are pretty common in a hot market like ours. Whether you're a buyer or a seller in this scenario, there are a few things you can do to prepare yourself to come out ahead.
We always associate multiple offers on a property with a really hot market like the one we're currently in, but a property could receive multiple offers in any market with the right pricing and promotion. Of course, the goal is always to get the highest price the market will bear. 

If you receive multiple offers, it will probably be in the first few days on the market. In order to leverage them, it’s important for your real estate agent to have a pre-market routine to build up the demand for the property while fielding inquiries like disclosure statements, title searches, or a bank appraisal.

Since the majority of offers will happen in the first few days, it's important to have this routine because if they don't, the seller could accept the wrong offer. If that offer falls apart, the seller will have to try to resurrect all the interest in the property a week or two down the road, which rarely results in another multiple offer situation. 

If an early offer falls apart, it's hard for a seller to resurrect that early interest in the property.
We've been involved in enough of these situations where all parties have been informed, allowing our sellers to get up to hundreds of thousands of dollars more than their asking price for their home.

On the buyer's side of the equitation, their agent needs to be sure they are pre-qualified for financing and allow them to review all documentation regarding disclosures on the property in a multiple offers situation. Remember, many sellers will accept a lower offer price if the offer is firm and gives open dates or doesn't have conditions attached. Buyers need to be just as well prepared.

If you or anyone you know is thinking of buying and/or selling a property, just give me a call or send me an email. I'd be honored to serve you!