Handling Multiple Offers on West Hollywood Condos: 5 Negotiation Tactics
When multiple buyers want your West Hollywood condo, how do you choose the strongest offer without leaving money on the table?
The strongest offer balances price, terms, and probability of closing—not just the highest number. Smart negotiation means understanding buyer motivation, positioning offers against each other strategically, and knowing which concessions actually matter.
Multiple offers feel like a good problem to have—until you’re actually sorting through them at 9 PM trying to decode which buyer is serious and which offer looks great on paper but won’t make it to closing. I’ve watched sellers leave money on the table by choosing the highest price without understanding the terms. I’ve also seen sellers walk away from strong offers because they focused on one number instead of the complete picture.
In 20 years of selling West Hollywood condos, I’ve learned that multiple offer situations reveal everything about an agent’s negotiation skill. The wrong approach costs you either money or deal certainty. Here’s what actually works when you’re juggling competing buyers.
The Five Tactics That Matter When You’re Choosing Between Multiple Offers
1. Understand What Each Buyer Actually Wants
Here’s what most sellers miss: not every buyer in a multiple offer situation wants the same thing. Some need your condo specifically—maybe they’re renting in your building, or they need that specific location, or they’ve been outbid on three other properties in West Hollywood and they’re desperate. Others are casually shopping and testing the market with an offer.
That distinction changes everything about how you negotiate.
The buyer who needs your property will stretch further on price but may need help with timing or contingencies. The casual buyer might offer clean terms but won’t budge much on price if you counter. Your agent should be talking to the other agents—not just collecting offer numbers—to understand buyer motivation.
I’ve seen sellers automatically accept the highest offer without asking basic questions: Is this buyer preapproved or just prequalified? Have they seen the property multiple times or once? Are they making offers on other condos simultaneously? Those conversations reveal who’s serious.
When you’ve got a buyer who’s currently renting at Granville Towers and wants to purchase in the same building, that’s different leverage than someone making offers on six different West Hollywood buildings. The first buyer can’t easily walk away. The second one can.
2. Position Offers Against Each Other Without Lying
trategic positioning means letting buyers know—through their agents—that you’re evaluating multiple offers and giving them the opportunity to improve their terms. This isn’t about inventing fake offers or creating false urgency. It’s about honest communication that better offers exist.
Your agent should contact every buyer’s agent and say something like: “We’ve received multiple offers and we’re reviewing all terms carefully. If your buyer wants to submit their highest and best by tomorrow at 3 PM, we’ll make a decision by end of day.” That’s positioning. It’s giving real buyers a real chance to compete.
What you don’t do is play games with fake deadlines or invented competing offers. That destroys trust and often backfires when buyers walk away entirely. West Hollywood is a small market—agents talk to each other, and reputations matter.
Here’s what works: create one clear deadline for highest and best offers, communicate it to everyone simultaneously, and actually evaluate the improved offers fairly. Buyers respect that process. They don’t respect being jerked around with multiple rounds of “one more chance to improve.”
I’ve watched agents burn deals by playing too cute with offer deadlines, asking for five rounds of improvements until buyers finally said forget it. You get one, maybe two rounds of highest and best. After that, pick an offer and move forward.
3. Know Which Terms Actually Matter Beyond Price
The highest price offer means nothing if it doesn’t close. You’re comparing probability of closing, not just dollar amounts. An offer that’s $15,000 higher but contingent on the buyer selling their current property first? That’s not actually a better offer for most sellers.
Look at contingencies first: financing, appraisal, inspection, and sale of buyer’s property. Every contingency is a potential exit door for the buyer. An offer with fewer contingencies and a slightly lower price often closes more reliably than a higher-priced offer loaded with contingencies.
Earnest money deposit size matters. A buyer putting down less than $22,500 (or 3% of the purchase price) earnest money on a $750,000 condo isn’t showing much commitment. A buyer depositing $25,000 is serious—they’ve got skin in the game and are less likely to walk over minor inspection items.
Closing timeline matters if you need to be out by a certain date or if you’re buying another property with timing pressure. A buyer offering 45-day close when you need 30 days creates problems even if their price is higher. Some sellers need rent-back periods—staying in the property after close for a few weeks while they move. If one offer includes that flexibility and another doesn’t, that’s worth real money in moving and temporary housing costs.
Appraisal contingencies are tricky in multiple offer situations. If you’re accepting an offer above recent comparable sales, you need to know what happens if the appraisal comes in low. Will the buyer pay the difference in cash? Will they renegotiate? That conversation happens before you accept the offer, not after.
4. Use Your Leverage While You Have It
You have maximum leverage the moment you receive multiple offers. That leverage disappears the second you accept one offer and take your condo off market. Smart negotiation means using your leverage window to strengthen the winning offer’s terms, not just to chase the highest price.
This is when you negotiate things like: shorter inspection periods, larger earnest money deposits, pre-inspections already completed, appraisal gap coverage, or removal of unnecessary contingencies. When buyers know they’re competing, they’ll often agree to terms they wouldn’t consider if they were the only offer.
Ask for things that reduce your risk without costing buyers much money: “Would you consider reducing the inspection period from 17 days to 10 days?” or “Can you increase your earnest money deposit to $20,000?” These requests strengthen the deal’s certainty without changing the price.
Some buyers in multiple offer situations will voluntarily include appraisal gap coverage—agreeing to pay $10,000 or $15,000 over the appraised value if the appraisal comes in low. That’s valuable protection if you’re accepting an aggressive price. But you have to ask for it during negotiation, not hope they offer it.
I’ve seen sellers accept offers and then try to renegotiate terms afterward—doesn’t work. Buyers know they won. Your leverage is gone. The time to negotiate is before you sign anything.
5. Don’t Get Greedy and Kill the Deal
Here’s where sellers hurt themselves: they get multiple offers, the market feels hot, and they convince themselves their condo is worth $50,000 more than they listed it for. They counter all offers at an inflated price and lose every buyer.
Multiple offers mean you priced correctly or slightly under market—that’s good. It doesn’t mean your property is suddenly worth whatever number you dream up. If you listed at $649,000 and received offers at $665,000, $660,000, and $655,000, that’s the market telling you the value. Countering everyone at $690,000 usually results in zero accepted offers.
Work the offers you have instead of chasing offers you don’t. If your highest offer is $665,000 with shaky terms and your second offer is $660,000 with clean terms, maybe you counter the second buyer at $667,000 and strengthen the terms. That often works better than countering the first buyer at $675,000 and hoping they don’t walk.
This decision involves real stakes. A seller who pushes too hard and loses all buyers often ends up back on market with a stigma—“What’s wrong with it? It was in escrow and fell out.” That perception costs you money and time. Better to negotiate smartly within the range of offers you actually received than to gamble on imaginary buyers who might appear later.
FAQ
What if all the offers are significantly below my asking price?
If every offer comes in low, the market is telling you something about your price. Multiple low offers aren’t a negotiating tactic by buyers—it’s feedback that your list price doesn’t match current market value. Your agent should pull recent comparable sales and help you understand whether your pricing was aggressive or market conditions shifted. You can counter all offers at a price between your list and their offers, but if buyers don’t budge, you’re likely overpriced. Better to accept that reality quickly than spend months chasing the market down with price reductions.
Should I tell buyers exactly what other offers are on the table?
No. You disclose that you’ve received multiple offers and you’re evaluating terms, but you don’t need to share specific details about competing offers. What you can say through your agent: “We have received multiple competitive offers” and “We’re asking all buyers to submit highest and best terms by [specific deadline] or above a certain number.” That’s enough information for buyers to make informed decisions without violating anyone’s confidentiality.
How long should I give buyers to improve their offers?
Twenty-four to 48 hours is standard for highest and best deadline. Long enough for buyers to consult with lenders, review finances, and make thoughtful decisions—but short enough to maintain momentum. If you give buyers a week, some will keep shopping other properties and your urgency disappears. The timeline should feel real but fair. Most agents request highest and best offers by 3 PM or 5 PM the following business day, then make decisions that evening.
Making the Decision That Actually Closes
Multiple offer situations test your judgment and your agent’s negotiation skill. The goal isn’t to squeeze every possible dollar from buyers—it’s to identify the offer most likely to close at the best combination of price and terms, then strengthen that offer through smart negotiation.
When you’re sorting through competing offers, focus on what you actually need: certainty of closing, timeline that works for your situation, price that reflects fair market value, and terms you can live with if something goes slightly wrong. The offer that checks most of those boxes is usually the right choice, even if it’s not the highest number on paper.
The agent guiding you through this decision should be asking questions about your priorities, explaining the trade-offs between different offers clearly, and helping you understand which risks are worth taking and which aren’t. That’s the skill that matters when you’re sitting at your kitchen table at 9 PM trying to choose between three offers that all look good but feel different.
Written by Damian DiCesare Licensed California Real Estate Agent Douglas Elliman Real Estate | DRE #01267505 📧 damian.dicesare@elliman.com | 📞 310-291-3636
Disclaimer: Damian DiCesare is a licensed California real estate agent with Douglas Elliman Real Estate (DRE #01267505). The information and opinions expressed in this article reflect general market observations as of the date published and are provided for informational purposes only. This content does not constitute real estate, legal, financial, or tax advice. Market conditions vary, and readers should consult with appropriate professionals regarding their specific situation.