Including an escalation clause may put you at risk for paying more than what the property was appraised for. Just because someone else is making a higher offer doesn't necessarily mean the home is worth that amount.
Make an offer to the seller that includes the escalation clause addendum, spelling out the original offer, with the escalation document attached. The seller will provide evidence of potential competing offers. The buyer will receive the courtesy call and may increase their offer using the escalation clause.
However, buyers need to be careful with these clauses as they can sometimes backfire. “An escalation clause needs to be in conjunction with a really good offer,” said Madani of Room Real Estate. “It's really the whole package to get your offer accepted.”
An example of a simple unconditional escalation clause is as follows: “Purchaser will increase the best offer received by $1,000” (of course, the dollar amount can vary, but for the sake of simplicity, I will use the figure of $1,000 throughout this article).
The reason why sellers don't want escalation clauses is simple: It introduces the risk that they'll sell the house for less than what would be your best and final offer.
How Do You Write an Escalation Clause With a Home Offer? Let's say you make a $410,000 offer on a house listed for $400,000. There are other offers on the table, so you include an escalation clause with a cap of $450,000 and a factor of $5,000. If another buyer's offer is $425,000, your offer will increase to $430,000.
To add, yes, escalation clauses are highly advisable. I use them for almost every single house my buyer is going to write an offer on and we know for certain there will be other offers. The escalation clause in itself is very favorable to buyers and protects them in more ways than one.
With an escalation clause, your offer only increases when your seller can provide proof of a higher offer. This can protect you from paying more than necessary.