During a buyer’s market, home buyer’s are agressive in their offers; making offers substantially below asking price with many seller concessions. As the market has shifted, buyer’s have had to direct heir agressive tactics to fighting off other buyers instead of beating up on home seller’s.
While several things can help a buyer make moves quickly and win their desired home, one effective technique is known as an escalation clause. When making an offer on a home, having a Realtor add an escalation clause to the contract can effectively add additional money in specific increments to an offer price up to a maximum price if their is concern that another higher offer may be made. This can help a buyer make an offer that is fair, without offering more than asking price unless it becomes necessary. Usually an escalation clause will require evidence that a higher offer was received by the seller. This evidence “triggers” the escalation clause.
What’s especially nice is that many times, buyer’s plan to negotiate upwards with a seller, so the escalation clause can help with that if warranted at the point of the initial offer. If not included, the initial offer can quickly be bypassed for another, higher offer.