79% of Recent Buyers Lost Out on a Home They Wanted. 3 Ways to Prevent That From Happening to You

There's a reason so many people have struggled to buy homes since the start of the pandemic: The real estate market has been starved for inventory, and that's forced home buyers to compete with one another to an extreme degree. If you want to avoid a scenario where you come out on the losing end of a bidding war, here are three key steps to take. An escalation clause in the context of a real estate offer means that you, as a buyer, are automatically willing to increase the offer you've made on a home if the seller receives a competing offer that's higher.