Ever thrown in plane tickets to an offer?

Question

Hello from hot market #1!

Has anybody ever heard of including something atypical in an offer for a house? (Or a multifamily) we are wondering about trying to make our offer standout in the San Francisco bay area by including two tickets to Italy in the offer( the sellers are super artsy)...

Is this a crazy idea?

Bryan O. · Answer

Hi @Ashley McClure I like the thinking! Very creative. Not able to scale but if you are doing a deal or two a year a great idea and I would do that. Something to consider is the tickets themselves. You would likely have to just give them cash at the price of tickets. Otherwise it gets weird since you would need their passport info to purchase them.

Chris T. · Answer

why don't your realtor ask what do the seller need from you in order to close the deal? Above listing price offers? Fast closing or close on the day the seller wants? I heard from some buyers including a personal letter and pictures as well with their offers.

On the flip side, I read that 1 of local investors here offered a Mercedes car if someone bought a house from them at full price. Now, that is going to get some serious publicity.

Alice K. · Answer

Hello there!

It would definitely make you stand out (but I wouldn't, unless you know they really like Italy), but something that might make you win is removing a contingency if there are a ton of offers. This can be dangerous though, and I've done that and been worried afterwards.

As @Chris T. mentioned, I would figure out what their ideal situation is.

Do you know how many offers are on the table? I honestly would just go in with the offer and all contingencies. I'm assuming this is your first offer?

If the seller wants to get you all in a bidding war, they'll ask for counters.

Background: Been in several bidding wars myself...

Good luck!

Ryan Landis · Answer

@Ashley McClure it will standout for sure! But depending on how well it is presented, it may or may not get your goal across. Also, as off as this sounds, it may make some things a little atypical - this is a non-cash element that now needs to get factored in potentially (i.e. speak to your lender to see if they would have an issue).

@Chris T. is accurate in trying to get to the bottom of what the sellers really want. Unfortunately, a fast close and above list price are so common that they might not even look at your offer if you are not offering those items. If your agent can, try and have them see if there is anything you can do.

Ever thrown in plane tickets to an offer?

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