Into the Weekend 02.07.25

In the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of experiencing one of my favorite things in the whole world. No, not the birth of another child. No, not the re-opening of New China all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet on Irving Park Road (it’s permanently closed, dammit). And, no, not box seats at Disney on Ice, silly.

Above all of those stands one of life’s truest joys: refereeing bidding wars on behalf of our sellers. It’s hard to think of anything that gives such a rush, that gets me so pumped up, that makes me want to do a hula dance in the middle of my living room.

With a slew of them lately, I’ve been on a non-stop high. As we all know from Bidding Wars 101, it’s up to the seller (expertly guided by me and my team, of course) to determine the rules of engagement. The seller can accept an offer, reject any or all of them, or counter-offer one or all of them.

More often than not, however, we go to all the bidders and ask for their “highest and best” offer, with a set deadline. 

What makes these last two bidding wars particularly interesting is that the sellers in each of them did NOT accept the highest offer. Hard to believe, eh? I kid you not.

And that’s because the other terms did not make those offers the best. In the first, the buyer with the highest offer price would not put up sufficient earnest money - an amount the buyer could easily walk away from if they changed their mind. And in the second deal, the highest bidder committed to such a low rate in the mortgage contingency clause that they could easily walk away if no lender would offer that rate.

As tempting as it is to rush to accept the highest offer (ka-ching, ka-ching), the offered price is only one component of an offer package. Now, with solid and enforceable deals in place and ready to close (thanks to the tutelage of the Brad Lippitz Group), my happy sellers can rest easy.

And celebrate with me at the nearest all-you-can-eat Chinese Buffet!

Have a great weekend!

Best,

Brad