One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from buyers competing for a home in Vermont is that winning a multiple-offer situation simply means offering the most money.
Sometimes it does. But very often, it doesn’t.
During one particularly competitive stretch in my own business, I wrote six offers for buyers in two weeks, and every single one was competing against other offers. Five of the six were accepted, including one with 100% financing, and not all of my clients submitted the highest purchase price.
The lesson I repeated to my buyers throughout those negotiations was simple: the seller isn’t choosing a price. They’re choosing an entire offer.
Purchase price matters, of course, but so do financing, contingencies, deposits, closing dates, inspection terms and the seller’s perception of how likely a transaction is to make it all the way to closing. The strongest offer is often the one that gives the seller the best combination of price, terms and certainty.
Vermont’s market also varies considerably by location, price point and property type, so there isn’t one formula that works for every house. Statewide inventory has increased from recent years, but that doesn’t mean competition has disappeared; Vermont Association of REALTORS® data showed active inventory up 16.9% year over year in June 2026, alongside a 10.4% increase in closed sales. A particularly desirable home can still attract several buyers at once.
So, when that happens, how do you make your offer stand out?
1. Be Ready to Move Quickly
Speed matters in a competitive real estate market, and I don’t mean making a rushed decision about a house you aren’t sure you want.
I mean doing the work before the right house comes along so you’re prepared to make a confident decision when it does.
Have your financing lined up, understand your budget, know which terms you’re comfortable with and talk through multiple-offer strategies with your agent in advance. Then, when you walk into a property and know it’s the one you want, you’re not spending the next three days figuring out what earnest money is or trying to reach a lender for an updated preapproval.
Being one of the first strong offers submitted can sometimes work to your advantage, particularly if the seller hasn’t established a firm offer deadline. Even when a seller intends to review several offers together, getting yours submitted promptly communicates that you’re prepared and serious.
You don’t necessarily want the seller wondering whether you’ve spent several days trying to convince yourself to buy their house.
2. Find Out What Actually Matters to the Seller
This is where a good buyer’s agent earns their keep.
Before I write an offer, I want to learn as much as I appropriately can from the listing agent about the terms that matter to the seller.
Maybe they need a specific closing date because they’re relocating. Perhaps they’d prefer not to remove certain personal property before closing, or certainty and fewer contingencies matter more to them than squeezing every possible dollar from the sale. Another seller may care primarily about their bottom-line net proceeds.
Those details matter because they allow us to structure an offer around the actual transaction rather than simply guessing.
Real estate negotiations involve people, and different sellers have different priorities. The goal is to identify objective terms that matter to that particular seller and determine whether any of them overlap with what you’re comfortable offering.
That does not mean trying to win based on personal characteristics or writing a buyer “love letter.” Vermont Association of REALTORS® specifically warns that buyer letters can introduce protected characteristics into a seller’s decision and recommends that offers be evaluated using objective criteria.
We want your offer to be compelling.
3. Consider a Stronger Earnest Money Deposit
If you’re serious about a property and have sufficient liquid funds available, a larger earnest money deposit can be one way to strengthen your offer without simply adding more to the purchase price.
The deposit ultimately gets applied according to the purchase contract at closing, so this isn’t necessarily additional money you’re spending on the house. What you’re doing is putting more money behind your contractual commitment.
But don’t increase your deposit casually.
Your rights to recover earnest money depend on the contract and the circumstances surrounding a termination, so you need to understand exactly what you’re agreeing to before putting a significant amount of money at risk. Vermont’s standard purchase-and-sale contract, for example, addresses the return of contract deposits when a buyer properly terminates under its financing contingency.
This is one of those areas where “stronger” shouldn’t mean “reckless.”
4. Get Your Financing as Buttoned Up as Possible
A seller isn’t just evaluating how much you’re offering. They’re also considering the likelihood that you can actually close.
That makes the financing side of your offer incredibly important.
I like working with responsive lenders who understand Vermont transactions, can communicate clearly with the listing side and are available when we need them. In a multiple-offer situation, I may want a lender prepared to speak with the listing agent, within appropriate limits, about the strength of the buyer’s financing.
Vermont’s standard purchase-and-sale contract specifically addresses financing contingencies and whether a purchaser has obtained a preapproval or prequalification letter.
This is also why I encourage buyers to shop financing before they’re under pressure to write an offer. Rate differences can change monthly payments and purchasing power, but the cheapest quoted rate isn’t the only consideration. Responsiveness, underwriting, loan type, timing and the lender’s ability to perform all matter when you’re trying to get from offer to closing.
And yes, buyers using low-down-payment or even 100% financing can win multiple offers. I’ve had it happen.
Cash isn’t the only way to write a compelling offer.
5. Don’t Assume an Escalation Clause Is Always the Answer
An escalation clause can be useful, but I don’t automatically recommend one simply because there are competing offers.
Sometimes a buyer is better served by deciding what the property is worth to them and submitting a strong offer at that number from the beginning.
I’ve had a seller accept my client’s offer even though another buyer’s escalation could have resulted in a higher purchase price. Our offer clearly communicated what my buyer was prepared to pay without requiring another round of calculations or negotiation.
Every situation is different.
An escalation strategy needs to consider comparable sales, likely appraisal issues, your financing, your maximum comfortable purchase price and the specific dynamics of the listing. You also need to understand precisely how any escalation language in your contract operates.
The goal isn’t to “win” at any cost.
It’s to buy the house on terms you can live with afterward.
6. Be Strategic About Your Inspection Terms
Buyers sometimes hear “multiple offers” and immediately assume they have to waive the home inspection entirely.
I don’t think that should be treated as the automatic answer.
An inspection is an important opportunity to learn about the property you’re purchasing, particularly in Vermont, where our housing stock can include older homes, private wells and septic systems, aging foundations, wood-burning systems and other property-specific considerations.
Vermont’s standard purchase-and-sale contract specifically provides for a property inspection contingency when selected by the parties.
Depending on the property, your risk tolerance and the terms available to you, there may be ways to make an inspection contingency more attractive without eliminating your ability to inspect altogether. One approach can be establishing a dollar threshold below which you agree not to seek concessions or termination based on covered inspection findings.
In practical terms, you’re communicating that you still want professional due diligence, but you aren’t planning to renegotiate the transaction over every minor repair.
Exactly how that language should be structured is something to discuss carefully with your agent and, when appropriate, your attorney. The goal is to understand the risk you’re accepting rather than waiving protections simply because you feel pressured to compete.
7. Give the Seller the Closing Date They Need When You Can
This is one of the simplest ways to improve an offer, and sometimes it costs the buyer absolutely nothing.
Be flexible.
One seller might want to close as quickly as financing allows because they’ve already purchased another property. Another might need additional time because they’re relocating, building a home or coordinating another transaction.
If you can comfortably accommodate their preferred timing, do it.
A slightly higher offer with an inconvenient closing date isn’t automatically more attractive than a strong offer that fits neatly into the seller’s plans.
This goes back to understanding the entire transaction before deciding where you need to compete.
8. Look at the Offer From the Seller’s Side
Before submitting a competitive offer, I like to mentally move across the table and look at it from the seller’s perspective.
What could make them nervous?
Is the financing solid? Is there an appraisal concern? Are there several contingencies? Is the closing timeline realistic? Are we asking the seller for concessions or including terms that reduce their expected proceeds? Are there unnecessary complications we could eliminate without putting the buyer at unreasonable risk?
This doesn’t mean stripping every protection from the contract.
It means understanding that every term has value.
Vermont’s purchase-and-sale contract contains provisions addressing financing, inspections and other conditions, and buyers should understand how those terms affect both their protection and the attractiveness of the offer.
The strongest strategy is usually the one that removes unnecessary friction while preserving the protections that genuinely matter to you.
The Highest Offer Doesn’t Always Win
I’ve watched this happen enough times to know that buyers shouldn’t automatically assume they’re out of the running because they can’t blow every other offer out of the water.
I’ve had buyers win with financing.
I’ve had buyers win without being the highest offer.
I’ve had sellers prioritize timing or certainty over another increment of purchase price.
That’s why I don’t think multiple-offer strategy can be reduced to “offer more.”
Your purchase price, financing, earnest money, inspection terms, appraisal considerations, contingencies and closing timeline all work together to tell the seller what kind of transaction you’re offering them. A skilled buyer’s agent should be helping you understand how each of those pieces affects your competitiveness and your risk.
The Vermont Association of REALTORS® similarly describes an agent’s role as helping consumers understand the market and navigate negotiations from the initial offer through inspection issues and contract terms.
Know Your Walk-Away Number Before You Compete
There is one final piece of multiple-offer strategy that I think is just as important as figuring out how to win: Know when you’re willing to lose.
Before we submit an aggressive offer, I want my buyers to understand the number and terms where they can walk away if another buyer is willing to do more.
A house can be wonderful without being worth abandoning every financial boundary you’ve established.
If another buyer is willing to pay $25,000 more than you’re comfortable paying, waive a contingency you need or accept a level of risk that doesn’t make sense for your situation, let them.
There will be another house. The goal isn’t to walk away from closing and say, “We won.” The goal is to buy the right property on terms that still make sense once the competition is over.
And with a thoughtful strategy, Vermont buyers can absolutely do that, even when several other offers are sitting on the table.