First Time Home Buyer and Multiple Offers

‘Home is where one starts from’ T. S. Eliot

Finally it quieted down. The multiple offers of this past summer left me and Toronto home owners with a “whoa... what was that?” moment. Just when everybody expected doom on the Toronto real estate front, others saw an opportunity. Toronto buyers took advantage of historically low borrowing rate and low home prices; add to it the motivation of buying before the HST kicked and the market was bound to heat up. Multiple offers were sure to be on the horizon in this “buyer's market”.

That is where Andrew and I found ourselves this past summer. Each time Andrew saw a property he liked sure enough multiple offers seemed to jump out of the woodwork. Of course we expected this beforehand and were diligently prepared. First we focused on our price range and stuck to it. We also held true to our location of which there was no compromise and kept in mind lifestyle and flexible transportation alternatives (TTC access and a parking space a must).

Andrew and I got involved in three, yes three multiple offers this past summer. On the first condo we were up against 9 multiple offers of which crazies were willing to visit the twilight zone. We had to walk away. The second we were against an unbelievable 15 multiple offers on a fantastic condo on Yonge and Carlton (of which we came in 2nd! but second still leaves Andrew homeless and therefore we soldiered on).

Multiple offers are probably one of the most stressful situations for any potential home buyer. It is extremely important to keep focused and not let your emotions -- or natural competitiveness -- overshadow your good judgment. Saying that, I believe you have to treat first time buyers as bungee jumpers; they just need that little push to begin their new life. I do it gently while at the same time making sure they are well strapped in. I explained this to Andrew on our way to the next multiple offer bid.

Andrew won on his third condo bid (up against 4 multiples), a great condo on Yonge and Wellesley. Two months later I check in on Andrew to see if he made the right decision “I love it Wael, I’m so happy with it and the location is just a dream”. My judgement proved right. The nudge works. Andrew is now enjoying his condo which he’ll use as a stepping stone to his next adventure in real estate.