Perserverance & Strategy Win in a Competitive NJ Market - 3/28/25

For today’s newsletter, I wanted to share a couple of personal real estate stories—both from my own home search and from helping my clients navigate multiple-offer situations. 

In a competitive market, the key to success isn’t just offering the most money—it’s about getting creative and crafting a winning offer.

When I was searching for my own home in Lyndhurst, we put in an offer on a 2-family property that had 80+ competing offers. It didn’t work out—but just hours later, a seller reached out about an off-market opportunity (as a result of a targeted direct mail campaign) and we were able to secure the home without the chaos of a similar bidding war. Nowadays, I incorporate cold calling and direct mail into my efforts to help my buyer clients find properties both on and off-market.

For buyers searching in this market, on-market deals are absolutely possible, too! 

Many of my clients have had their offers accepted—even in 30+ offer situations—without being the highest offer. How? It’s all about strategy:

Flexible Terms: One client beat out higher offers by offering the seller a free leaseback so they could stay in the home for 60 days while they transitioned.

Stronger Terms Over Price: Another client secured a home in a multiple offer bidding war by putting down a higher appraisal gap rather than just increasing the purchase price. The seller valued certainty over a risky high offer.

Understanding the Seller’s Needs: In another case, the seller had already been burned by a deal falling through.Instead of just throwing out a high number, we focused on presenting a well-structured, strong, and reliable offer that gave them peace of mind.

Winning in this market isn’t ALWAYS about outbidding—it’s about outsmarting & getting creative.