Publication:  CNN Money

Summary:  In many hot housing markets, bidding wars have been breaking out on a regular basis -and some house hunters are getting beaten out time and again.  In this article, CNN journalist Les Christie interviews Wei Min Tan about strategies to win a bidding war.  Methods mentioned in the article include paying in cash, getting a pre-approval, contingency clauses and escalation clauses.

Wei Min’s comments in article:  Wei Min noted the upsides and downsides of escalation clauses, where the buyer agrees to pay X amount above the seller’s highest offer.  A buyer offering an escalation clause may not know whether the other “highest offer” claimed by seller is real.  The buyer may also run into appraisal issues if overpaying for the property.