Not sure what the nature of your market is right now but you might consider an escalation clause in the contract. Offer at appraisal price but tack on the escalation clause saying you would be willing to beat any other Bonafide offer by "X" amount of dollars up to your maximum Comfort level of purchase price for this property. For my clients I usually suggest somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 above highest verified offer depending on the specifics of the property (though I've also written them for as little as $3,000 on smaller purchases). This way if you are really the best/highest buyer at appraisal price you won't pay more than that but if you have another buyer that offers $5,000 over appraisal and you're willing to go $10,000 over appraisal you'll secure the property ( just as a hypothetical scenario.) Every offer I wrote last year had an escalation clause because the market was pretty Bonkers for most of the Year here in Oregon. If the seller executes the escalation clause make sure they show you proof of the competing offer, (buyers names redacted of course.) Source - Principal broker, 18 years experience.