When the Offers Start Multiplying
How to Navigate Multiple Bids
Just a few weeks ago we shared our thoughts on negotiation strategy and what a skilled real estate professional will do to guide you through the offers process, especially if you’re selling. As promised, we’re following up that original post with a look at something we’ve seen a lot of this summer: multiple offers.
If negotiating one offer feels like you’ve got a seat at the table at poker night, juggling multiple offers is more like hosting game night with half the neighborhood showing up. Everyone’s eager, everyone’s competitive, and you’re right in the middle of it all. It’s exciting—but it can also feel overwhelming. The good news? Multiple offers usually mean your home is in demand, and that puts you in a strong position. Here’s how to make sense of the flurry.
And, if you’re one of those buyers who showed up to game night thinking you might be the only one, don’t be disheartened. Unlike in poker, which hand wins is totally subjective and sometimes takes even seasoned real estate agents by surprise.
1. Price Isn’t Everything (But It’s a Lot)
If you’re the seller: It’s tempting to zero in on the biggest number, but sometimes the “highest” offer isn’t the strongest. An offer $10,000 higher might look great until you realize it comes with financing challenges or a long list of contingencies. Weigh price alongside terms, financing, and closing timelines to get the true value of each offer.
A good real estate agent will sit down with you and will have prepared a spreadsheet or other overview of all of the offers. They’ll point out not just asking price, but all the contingencies, which ones carry higher risk of not getting to the closing table, and which contracts (because in NH, all offers are made via a Purchase and Sales agreement, which is a binding contract once signed by both buyers and sellers) are “cleanest” – meaning less open to loopholes or misunderstanding should there be any bumps along the way.
If you’re the buyer: Hopefully your agent reached out to the listing agent before submitting your offer and got a sense of whether you’re in a multiple offer situation. If so, they’ve likely had a conversation with you about what your highest and best offer really is.
2. Know Your Priorities Ahead of Time
Multiple offers can feel like a sugar rush—you’re flattered, excited, and maybe a little dizzy. Having your priorities clear before they roll in will help you stay grounded. Decide ahead: is a quick close worth more to you than squeezing out an extra few thousand dollars? Would you trade flexibility on move-out dates for fewer inspection contingencies? Those answers become your anchor.
If you’re the seller: Think about what matters most to you—speed, certainty, flexibility—and let that guide how much weight to give contingencies. In a multiple-offer scenario, contingencies can become tie-breakers. A slightly lower price with fewer strings attached may actually give you a smoother path to the closing table.
If you’re the buyer: How strongly do you feel about this house? If you find out tomorrow that someone else won it will you shrug and move on to the next open house? Or will you measure all other houses next to this one and have some regret. There’s no perfect house, but if you're really in love with one and there are multiple offers, are you willing to take a bit of risk to secure the home (e.g. waive that home inspection you thought you would always demand).
3. Leverage Earnest Money
Buyers know they’re in competition, and many will use earnest money to show seriousness. Higher deposits reduce the risk of a buyer walking away casually. Pay attention to this detail—it’s one of the clearest signals of commitment.
For both buyers and sellers: We see this play out in a really interesting way here in the Lakes Region, so remember that context counts! Up in our beautiful neck of the woods, the average sales price can be a little misleading. While it’s true that the average is about $450,000 this year, the range of properties and clients that we work with includes everything from raw land that might cost as little as $40,000, adorable tiny cabins and camps that usually go for $250,000 or so, single family homes right at that average price point, all the way up to waterfront estates that are listed at $2-$5 Million dollars.
So what a “serious” earnest money deposit looks like and how painful walking away might be will vary according to what segment of the market you’re in and to the types of buyers you’re negotiating with. A first time home buyer who puts $10K down in earnest money on a $425,000 fixer upper is making a bigger statement than an investor who puts $15K down on the same house, plans to gut it, and is working 3-4 other deals at the same time. While no one wants to walk away from $15K, that investor has less skin in the game than the first time homebuyer does, even though the amount is more.
4. Set the Rules of the Game
If offers start coming in at once, your agent can set a clear deadline for “highest and best.” This keeps the process organized and prevents you from getting caught in endless back-and-forths. A deadline gives buyers clarity and you, the seller, peace of mind.
If you’re the seller: Have a conversation with your agent about when you would like to cut off offers, and make sure you both agree that the agent will field and you will accommodate all requests to see the property up to a certain time. Offers can be written in about an hour if the buyer is ready, so your agent should be showing the property to any and all potential buyers right up to the wire. We’ve seen a few instances where agents (shh, we won’t name names) have been postponing new viewings because they already have a few offers in. If that’s happening on the seller's instructions, great, but it doesn’t make a ton of sense.
If you’re the buyer: This type of situation is exactly why your agent has requested that you share either proof of funds or a pre-approval from a lender. It means that whenever you see the house that you want to make home, they can immediately submit an offer. The last thing you want is to miss out on a house because you were scrambling to get a letter from a lender indicating pre-approval and missed a deadline.
6. Closing Thoughts: Keep Your Cool (and Your Poker Face)
Competition can bring out emotion on both sides. Some buyers may write heartfelt letters, others might push aggressively. Remember: this is a business transaction. Keep the big picture in mind and lean on your agent to filter out noise and keep negotiations productive.
For example, we tell any sellers we work with that we don’t accept “love letters.” It introduces potentially biased information that could violate Fair Housing Law and we think that offers should speak for themselves. And before we present the offers, we have a grounding conversation with our sellers. Absent knowing what’s on the table right now, what would your ideal scenario be? Now that selling isn’t just a hypothetical but imminent, when do you really want to be out of the house? If there are inspections, are you willing to address anything that might come up?
Multiple offers are a great problem to have—but they are a problem to solve thoughtfully. It’s about more than picking the “winner.” It’s about choosing the path that gets you confidently to the closing table with terms that support your next chapter. With the right strategy, a good guide in your corner, (and yes, a decent poker face), you’ll navigate the process like a pro.