Bidding wars have grown common in home sales, but now they’re part of the process of renting an apartment as well. As demand outstrips supply, renters are trying to outbid others to get the property they want.

Some tenants will offer over the listed price to get their application ahead in the stack. Property owners may even return to applicants and ask them to submit their “highest and best offer” in such cases. Some owners are specifying in ads for their rental units that prospects should be ready for a bidding war and should submit their very highest offer.

In the Los Angeles rental market, “we’re seeing bidding wars with 10-plus offers leading to leases going for substantially over ask,” Blake Stargel, a real estate professional with Compass, told realtor.com®. “This is now the norm. According to local agents, while 10% over asking is common, particularly hot properties can go for 1.5 times the listed monthly rent.”

Source: “Inside the Wild World of Rental Bidding Wars—and What It Takes to Win,” realtor.com® (May 11, 2022)