How to Compare Multiple Offers When Selling in Los Angeles

Getting several offers on your house is the outcome every seller hopes for, and it is also the moment people make expensive mistakes. The highest number on the page is not always the best offer. In Los Angeles, where prices are high enough that small differences in terms can move tens of thousands of dollars, the real skill is working out which offer is most likely to close, and at what price you actually walk away with.

Start with the question of whether it will close

Before I look at anything else, I ask how likely an offer is to reach the finish line. That habit comes from my years in commercial credit at HSBC, where the question was never how good the deal looked but how likely it was to perform. An offer that is $40,000 higher but falls apart in week three costs you time, momentum and often a lower price the second time around, because buyers can tell when a home has come back on the market.

So look first at the buyer's financing. A strong pre-approval letter from a lender, along with proof of funds for the down payment, tells you the buyer has been through real scrutiny. A vague letter from an online lender no one has heard of tells you less. Your agent should be phoning the lender's loan officer directly, not simply reading the letter.

Price is only the headline

Compare offers on what you would net, not what they say at the top. A $1.5 million offer with the buyer asking for $20,000 in closing cost credits is really a $1.48 million offer. Add a repair request, or a request that you leave certain items, and the gap between two offers can vanish or flip.

It also helps to look at the price against the appraisal risk. LA homes often sell above what the first appraiser thinks they are worth, especially when several buyers compete. If a buyer is financing most of the purchase and hasn't committed to covering an appraisal shortfall, a high price can be paper-thin. Ask whether the buyer is willing to cover a gap, and how much. A buyer who says they will cover up to $50,000 over appraisal is taking real risk on your behalf. One who says nothing about it is not.

Contingencies are where the risk hides

A standard California contract gives the buyer the right to cancel for several reasons within set periods, typically the inspection, the appraisal and the loan. Each is a way out. The fewer of them a buyer keeps, and the shorter the periods, the safer the offer is for you.

A buyer who waives the loan contingency is saying they will close even if their lender lets them down, which usually means they have financial reserves behind them. A buyer who shortens the inspection period to five or seven days from the typical 17 is telling you they will do their homework quickly. Neither is automatically better than a clean offer with all contingencies intact, but they change the risk, and you should weigh them alongside price.

One point people miss: if you have provided a pre-inspection report and full disclosures upfront, buyers can offer with more confidence and often waive or shorten the inspection contingency. Sellers who do this well tend to get stronger terms. The disclosure side of that is its own topic, and I've covered it separately.

The deposit and the timeline

The earnest money deposit is the buyer's good-faith money, and in Los Angeles it is commonly around 3% of the purchase price. On a $1.5 million home that is $45,000. A bigger deposit shows commitment, because it is at stake if the buyer defaults after removing contingencies. A tiny deposit on an expensive house is a warning sign.

Then look at the closing timeline. A standard close is around 30 days, though cash buyers can close in 14 to 21. A shorter close is not always better. If you are buying your next home, or still packing up, a 21-day close may cause you real problems. Some buyers will offer a rent-back, which lets you stay in the house for a period after closing. That flexibility can be worth more than a few thousand dollars in price.

Financing type matters

Not all financing is equal in the eyes of a seller. A conventional loan with a large down payment is usually the smoothest. FHA and VA loans can be perfectly good, but they come with stricter appraisal and property condition requirements, and in an older LA house with deferred maintenance those requirements can create surprise repair demands. All-cash offers remove financing risk entirely, which is why sellers like them.

Jumbo loans deserve a mention here. As of 2026, the conforming loan limit in LA County is roughly $1.25 million, though you should confirm the current figure with your lender or FHFA. Above that, buyers usually need a jumbo mortgage, which often means tougher underwriting and larger reserves. In neighborhoods like Hancock Park or Los Feliz, where many homes sit well above that line, the strength of a buyer's jumbo approval is worth checking carefully.

Using a multiple counter offer

Here is a tool many sellers don't know about. In California you can respond to more than one buyer at once using the California Association of Realtors multiple counter offer form. It lets you counter several offers simultaneously, while making clear that only one can be accepted, and the first buyer to sign the acceptance wins. It is a clean way to ask your top two or three buyers for their best terms in a structured, documented way.

It also lets you keep a backup. Even after you accept an offer, holding the second-best buyer as a backup protects you if the first deal collapses.

A practical way to decide

Line the offers up side by side. Compare net proceeds, financing strength, contingencies, deposit, and timeline. Then ask which buyer you would trust to still be there on closing day. That is usually clearer than it seems once the terms are laid out plainly.

If you're preparing to list and want to talk through how offers might play out for your specific home, get in touch. I'm happy to walk you through what a strong offer looks like in your neighborhood before you go to market.