It isn't always as simple as taking the highest offer when accepting the "best" offer for your seller.
You want to make sure the accepted offer is a successful escrow all the way to the end, so consider some of the following when choosing the best offer besides looking at offer price:
What kind of loan is the buyer getting? Is it appropriate for this kind of property? Will it fly for this kind of property? Is it a reputable lender? Have you contacted the lender yourself to check the financial strength of the buyers?
"Over Asking" price - a good thing? maybe not in some cases because although your seller is thinking "great!!", will it appraise for that price? Or is the bank going to come back with a lower appraisal? then what, re-negotiate the deal all over again? You want to be careful of this because this is a strategy sometimes used by buying agents in a multiple offer situation in order to get an accepted offer. They'll offer a much higher price probably knowing it won't appraise (according to their comps), then they'll try to re-negotitate the deal during escrow thinking the seller is so far in to the deal that they'll just break down and accept a lower selling price out of shear exhaustion perhaps.
I'll try to make this an on-going blog series if you think it's helpful.
Good luck, and remember.................play nice!
I have always believed that terms can beat price in a negotiation if they are presented and written clearly to convey their greater benefit
When selecting the best offer, it is always helpful to have some kind of matrix so that at a glance the seller will have a clear idea of the terms of each offer. It also helps to have an estimate of the seller's net proceeds from each sale.
Then in a remarks section, itemize strengths and weaknesses.
In the final analysis, after you've presented the offers, it is the seller's decision which offer to select. The seller may not always agree with your assessment for reasons of his own, but at least the analysis is there for the record and future reference.
Price is just a starting point in adding and subtracting to get to the net proceeds, terms and conditions.
Price is like the menu at Club 21, merely a suggestion.