Multiple offers on Oahu homes. Beat them all with this sure fire strategy.

While most of America's real estate market is struggling along, Oahu homes are still selling fast. Multiple offers are still coming in for homes that with a reasonable list price. So if you find a house that you really love, let's say in Kailua, and you want to make sure your offer is the one to get accepted, what should you do?

One great tactic is the "escalation clause." Since that term doesn't mean anything to most people, I call it the "outbid clause", because it's more obvious. Once you have written the offer you want to present, you call the listing agent to find out when they are planning to present their offer to the seller. Send your offer in at the latest possible time, and put something in your offer that says something like, "if the seller receives a higher offer than this one, this offer to automatically increase by $10,000 over any other offer up to a max of $800,000 purchase price."

Yes, it's nearly bullet proof, unless their are factors out of your control, like the terms of other offers. If all the terms are similar to yours, then you should be the lucky buyer. Usually .

It's true that most properties today are not selling with multiple offers, but when you find something really great at a great price, you can bet the buyers will be jumping on it. Even in Ewa Beach, if a house is priced right, it may get lots of attention. With the military announcing a huge influx of soldiers to Hawaii over the next couple years, I'm sure housing on the west side is going to get very tight again.

The problem right now is that you can't find a decent house on the east side for under $2million. And even then, a lot of the homes are a bit junky. Yes, it costs $2million for a nice luxurious feeling house. Sure you can get a decent place for a lot less, but not the type of house that most people from the mainland are used to.

When I visit my relatives in CA and MT, and see their massive suburban homes, I realize how hard it must be for people to come to Hawaii Kai and Manoa and see these tiny lots with old homes for a million dollars. Home on the mainland that would cost only $250k or so sell for over a million in Kailua, Diamond Head, and anywhere in Honolulu.

So when you find a real good deal and a nicely built house, you may have to jump on it with several other buyers at the same time. And if you really want to make sure you get your offer accepted, use an escalation clause.