Rejection advice from an REO listing agent

We received this rejection advice on an REO listing we submitted an offer on. I'm sharing it with you, because it's good advice.

-sunil

You had submitted an offer for the property located at: xxxx xxxxxxx DRIVE, UNION CITY Unfortunately, your offer was not accepted. The Seller has accepted another offer to go pending with as of this morning. Please watch MLS, just in case it happens to fall out of Escrow, and you can re-submit if your Buyers are still interested at that time. FYI: The Seller accepts an offer that they feel is the strongest and does not always choose to counter all offers. In many case, especially when dealing with such a large amount of offers received, they will simply choose the strongest offer from the start. Also be sure your offer is complete when submitting it, which may not have been your case, but that can also impact your offer from being accepted or being delayed in submitting. If they chose another offer over yours, even if it had a lower price, it could have been many other factors that made the other offer "stronger", such as large down payment, earnest money deposit (sometimes non-refundable), close of escrow, short or no contingency periods, source of funds to close, etc... The Seller has sole and absolute discretion to accept or reject any offer received and is not required to accept any particular offer, regardless of terms or offer price. The Seller has the right to deal directly with any Broker and/or one or more offers to further negotiate the terms of any offer. In so doing, the Seller shall have no obligation to negotiate or communicate with each and every other offer or with any of them. In accepting an offer, the Seller will make their decision solely on such lawful factors and criteria as it, in its sole judgment, deems appropriate under the circumstance. Price is but one factor to be considered. Keep the above items in mind when writing offers. Just because an offer comes in higher, you don't know the specifics as to the other offers. You should always come in with your best foot forward, not expecting a counter, because the Seller does not always issue them. Keep your contingency periods low, your deposit and down payment strong and have your proof of funds and financing (if applicable) solid. If you offer well above the list price, provide comps to support your offer (if using financing in a declining market). The Seller does not always choose the highest offer. All of these items will assist in making your offer stronger in the eyes of the Seller. I'm sorry your offer was not accepted but I do hope to do business with you in the future. Thank you~ Offer Manager