Making multiple offers at the same time

[Brian Holshouser]

So Brandon Turner recommends making an offer once a week. We currently have put in one backup offer about two weeks ago and finally found another property we feel could be a good deal, however, the realtor we’re using told us we should withdraw the first offer if we want to put in the other offer.

I asked our agent what the potential ramifications could be and she said we would be forced to buy both houses (not the worst scenario ever) and if we don’t we could potentially be sued and lose our earnest money.

We’re wondering how others go about this. Does anyone in here put an offer out there a week? Should we withdraw the previous week’s offer if we do? Does it make sense to keep two offers open and if one comes through try to go with the better deal?

Thanks in advance.

[Joseph Cacciapaglia]

If you're willing to close on both, then I think it's fine. If not it depends on how your contract is structured. In TX, the TREC contract has an option built into it, and in most cases, people are really only risking $100 for each offer they submit. If they both were accepted, and you just wanted to move forward on one, you would be out $100 on the other. The $100 option fee is negotiable, but that amount is probably the average for SFR here. It's usually enough to discourage most people from putting in multiple offers simultaneously, but some still will.