O ur strong Cowichan Valley real estate market is a real challenge for buyers. It seems sellers are asking higher prices every week and often instructing their Realtor® to "hold for offers", which means allowing as many buyers as possible to view their home in the hopes of high-priced, often subject-free, offers.

So, what can you do if you are a buyer and looking for a house in the Cowichan Valley?

A Strategy

Well, there are several strategies and things you need to do (contact me below for a complete list of tips), but one buyer strategy is to instruct your Cowichan Valley Realtor® to write a "Bully Offer" or a "pre-emptive offer". This strategy is an attempt to get the seller to review your offer early, before the "holding for offers" date in an attempt to get in early before the other buyers can view and potentially drive up the price.

The seller, who has instructed their listing agent to hold for offers, is hoping for a full price or better than full price offer with as few conditions as possible. On the other hand, the buyer and their agent can never be sure how much interest a home is getting – maybe not as much as expected. Perhaps an early and very strong offer will be appealing to a seller. Perhaps the seller doesn’t want lots of people traipsing through their home or perhaps the home is tenanted and the seller will welcome a strong early offer.

A Strong Bully Offer

Now, a "Bully Offer" needs to be strong, as subject-free as possible, and often (sometimes substantially) over asking price with perfect completion and possession dates. There needs to be enough incentive for the seller to accept your "early" offer rather than "hold out" for the unknown on the disclosed date.

Having your Realtor® write a "Bully Offer" does not necessarily mean you are the only game in town – once a "Bully Offer" is submitted, other agents could scramble and write "Bully Offers" too, making it a multiple offer scenario.

Important Note

A seller is not obligated to review a "Bully Offer" and may instruct their Realtor® to wait until the "hold for offers" date like they had originally planned. There is a risk that the buyer could overpay - what happens if there are only two or three offers or no other offers at all and you had put in an over asking price "Bully Offer"?

In Closing

A knowledgeable, experienced, local Cowichan Valley Realtor® is your very best resource to make sure that there is validation to the price you are offering.

Looking at buying a home in and around Duncan and throughout the Cowichan Valley is a challenge in this market, but there are tactics and strategies that can help.