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If youre looking to buy a home, and the market has more homes than buyers, it can be hard to get the attention of the seller of a home you love. Many sellers have multiple offers in on their home, and their goal is to get the highest possible price, with the simplest terms. Heres how you can compete:

Offering the highest bid isnt the most important thing, but it certainly helps. You need to decide what exactly your top budget is for a home. Then, decide how much you really want that particular home. Is it really as perfect as you think? Is it worth offering more and rushing a sale? If so, go ahead.

I mentioned that having the highest offer isnt the most important thing. How can money not be the most important thing? Well, if their are sticky terms attached, even the highest offer can look risky to a seller. If a buyer has to sell their home first, the seller sees that they could be waiting months before their sale is final. A couple thousand dollars lower an offer but an immediate sale might look far more attractive. This can work to your advantage if you are able to buy immediately with no delays or strange clauses, even if your offer isnt above anyone elses. Alternatively, the seller may want a delayed sale for reasons of their own. Being flexible to their needs will serve you best if its truly the home you need.

Be aware that any deadlines you try to initiate will only be a turn-off to the seller. If the ball is in their court, theyre not going to go out of their way to adhere to your deadlines. Similarly, if they put deadlines on you, realize that they can still accept another offer while waiting for your response. So if they give you a counter offer, or give you a term to negotiate, it is important to respond to them as quickly as possible. Otherwise you risk them turning to someone else.

Further, if this is a sellers market, and you desperately want a particular home, dont nit pick the seller about repairs. You may get away with requesting a small fund set aside for some outstanding repairs that the seller is aware of, but dont try adding a clause that gets the seller to fix it before the sale goes through, or the chances of them taking another offer are high. They want to move on, not start something new.

Finally, be sure you are pre-approved for a mortgage. This gives your offer legitimacy, and lets you know exactly what your bidding maximum is. Plus, it could help a sale go through fasterâ ”if thats what the seller wants.