When it comes to winning the keys in a competitive buying environment, its not always the highest price that comes out on top (though it certainly helps!) as contract conditions have their own influence on how attractive an offer can be as a seller.
As I have had pointed out to me a number of times over the years (and seen in practice even more), a dream price can mean nothing if the conditions attached don’t make sense. A recent example that comes to mind is where one of the tenants in a property offered for sale submitted his “offer” via text, to pay a million dollars, but with a 1 year settlement, no deposit, and he would get to live in the property rent free in the meantime as part of the deal. For some reason, the seller wasn’t as excited about that offer as the erstwhile buyer thought they should be, and the tenant was not successful in their efforts.
In more traditional negotiations, you might find multiple contracts submitted for a home, with the seller then left (along with their friendly agent) to suss out the best option between price, conditions and time. Depending on the seller’s needs, speed might be the winning factor, with a quick settlement to help pay for the seller’s next purchase or get them out of a bind. Equally, a seller might be more attracted by a longer settlement – I know with my own last purchase, one of the big factors for the sellers was having time to prepare their next home so we agreed on more time to let them get their ducks in a row.
Outside of timing, the fewer conditions the better when it comes to standing out – with a buyer able to forgo finance or building and pest conditions (or both!) generally in a far more advantageous position compared to those needing the safety nets those conditions can offer. Against a (virtual) guarantee of a sale, most owners (even of properties without any specific condition or finance related concerns) are probably going to lean in that direction, barring a substantial difference in price. A couple of percent is pretty standard, but against $50,000 or more extra, well then that “subject to sale” or other condition might not look quite so bad.