Unlike the weather, the real estate market hasn’t been as hot as usual this June, with the typical home selling for 0.3% below its asking price, according to new data from Redfin. While it’s a welcome shift for homebuyers, those getting ready to put their home on the market now face a harder sell.

At the same time, you may have heard about homes in your area that sold for over the asking price, following a bidding war involving multiple parties, and wondered what they’re doing right. As it turns out, there are several tactics sellers can use to improve their chances of having similar results. Here are a few realtor-approved methods for sparking a bidding war.

How to trigger a bidding war when selling your home

In theory, all you need for a bidding war is at least two people who fall in love with a home and have the money to offer more than the asking price. You could hope that you get lucky and it happens organically, but according to Dana Hall-Bradley, a realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Fine Living in Celebration, Fla. and Joe Muck, a realtor at J Muck Realty, there are several ways you can make your home more appealing to buyers and increase your chances of getting multiple offers.

First, there are the tried-and-true methods: Pricing your home lower than the comps, hiring a successful realtor, making it available for private showings, hiring a professional photographer to take the listing photos, making cosmetic repairs to the interior, improving curb appeal, and making sure your home smells good during a showing or open house.

If you’ve done all of that and your freshly painted colonial still isn’t bringing all the buyers to the yard, here are a few other tactics to try:

1. Set a deadline for offers

Instead of putting your home on the market and waiting for offers to roll in, this will help create a sense of urgency. “Offer deadlines are a good idea as long as you already have an offer your client/s like,” Much says. “This can push those sitting on the fence to submit an offer and perhaps even include an escalation clause, which can move the current offer to do the same.”

Once you receive more than two offers, have your realtor message the potential buyers saying something like: “We are in receipt of multiple offers. The seller has requested all buyers submit their highest and best offers no later than Tuesday at 7 p.m.” At that point, you can also add a line to the listing to that effect.

2. Respond to all offers

So, someone submitted a lowball offer for your home. Instead of getting annoyed and ignoring the message, use it as an opportunity to talk up your property and the interest it’s generating. When you (politely) respond thanking them for their offer, you can also mention that you’ve received multiple higher offers. That way if they really are interested in your home and have the money to buy it, they’ll know they have to step it up.

3. List the home around the holidays

Muck recommends this strategy for two reasons. First, there are fewer homes on the market at that time of year, so there won’t be as much competition. Also, “you can display how your home ‘feels’ at a time of the year when that is top of mind for many buyers,” he says.

4. Host an over-the-top open house

If you’re having trouble getting people in the door for public and private showings, you may want to consider holding an open house that feels more like An Event.

“I would highly recommend an ‘over-the-top’ and themed open house or broker’s open house to spark interest to buyers,” Hall-Bradley says. “[It] make[s] it a more fun and inviting space for local realtors/brokers to preview,” and, in turn, make them excited to promote your home to potential buyers.

But you’re going to have to get creative: Baking a few dozen cookies and putting some balloons on the mailbox isn’t going to cut it. Here’s what Hall-Bradley suggests:

• Hold the event immediately after listing the property.

• Create personalized invitations geared toward the theme. 

• Advertise a give-away of some sort. “In the past, I have had the local spa in our town donate spa gift certificates,” she says. “The guest would leave their name or business cards, and we would have a drawing after the event.”

• Have a goodie bag for each guest—perhaps containing something local to your neighborhood.

• Roll out a (literal) a red carpet for guests, specifically if it’s a higher-end home.

• Have an open bar with themed cocktails. 

• Order snacks from a local chef. 

• Offer a photo booth where the potential buyer would need to put their phone number or email in order to get their photo sent to them.

For example, Muck once hosted an ice cream social open house during the summer—complete with an ice cream truck—that resulted in a bidding war. “[It] encouraged families to come to the open house and view the home, but also gave them a sense of what living in the house would be like for their family,” he says. Muck has also threw a lakefront BBQ as an open house for a lakefront property, which also helped generate multiple offers and resulted in selling the home for more than the asking price.

“By transforming your open house into an unforgettable event, you create a buzz that attracts serious buyers and highlights the uniqueness of your property,” Hall-Bradley says. “This approach can make potential buyers feel special and excited about their prospective new home.”

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 28, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 28, Wordle #1,105! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Almost all of today’s letters are from our mnemonic! Only one is uncommon.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

As a verb, past tense; as a noun, a flock of animals.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with D. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is DROVE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH followed by BIPED to eliminate likely consonants. With a few possible solutions, I guessed DRONE, leaving DROVE as the answer.

Wordle 1,105 5/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “as a noun, something you place at a restaurant” and the answer contained all common letters.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was ORDER.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2024 – On July Fourth, the aroma of barbecue will fill the air as the festivities bring together family and friends to celebrate with quintessential American cooking pastimes: grilling and smoking. Food is the biggest staple when it comes to celebrating Independence Day, aside from the fireworks. Whether you’re sizzling burgers on the grill or slow-cooking ribs in the smoker, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service is urging everyone to take food safety precautions during food preparations.

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin accepting applications starting on Monday, July 1 through its updated Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) to provide financial assistance to eligible dairy producers who incur milk losses due to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, also known as H5N1infection in their dairy herds.

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 27, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 27, Wordle #1,104! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

All of today’s letters are from our mnemonic!

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

As a noun, something you place at a restaurant.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with O. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with R. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is ORDER.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH then tried ORBED, which left only ORDER as a solution.

Wordle 1,104 4/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩⬛🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was harder. The hint was “a step in baking bread” and the answer contained four common letters and one less common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was KNEAD.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

It’s hard to resist the urge to crank up the AC during a heatwave. But if you rely on a window unit to stay cool, you may notice that when temperatures soar, your AC isn’t as effective as usual, and may even cut out altogether from time to time.

The cause could have nothing to do with your window unit—in the past, you’ve probably received messages from your local electricity supplier about conserving energy and possible outages during a heatwave, and if your window unit is suddenly not keeping you cool, that could be why.

Asif Bux, the service manager at Comfort Union, a full-service HVAC and plumbing company, says it’s a question he deals with a lot: Is it a power issue, or is my AC failing?

Common signs your AC window unit might be failing

According to Bux and Brad Roberson, president of Aire Serv Heating & Air Conditioning and an expert in HVAC and indoor air quality, some common signs that your AC window unit might be dying include:

1. It stops blowing cold air (or the air is not as cool as it used to be)

2. It’s making loud, unusual noises (e.g. grinding or buzzing)

3. It’s leaking water

4. It’s frequently switching on and off

5. You’re getting unusually high energy bills, even accounting for regular AC use (a sign of reduced efficiency)

Reasons your AC unit may be struggling

Before writing your current AC window unit off completely, do some detective work to figure out if it’s actually broken, or there’s something else going on.

1. It’s a power issue

According to Roberson, AC window units are designed to lower temperatures by a certain amount, and sometimes the heat becomes too much for them. “During times of extreme heat and extended use, the unit may struggle to achieve or maintain desired temperatures,” he says.

Power supply issues might also be to blame, Bux says—especially during peak usage times, when the electrical grid could experience voltage drops. “Dimmed lights or other electrical anomalies can indicate a grid issue,” he says.

If the unit functions properly again when outdoor temperatures cool down, you’ll know it was likely a heat-load or electrical grid issue, Bux says.

2. The filter is dirty

The first thing to check is your unit’s air filter. These get dirtier quicker than you think they will, and can reduce cooling efficiency, Bux says. A filthy filter can also cause your unit to cycle on and off frequently.

3. The coil fins are bent and/or dirty

Check to make sure the coil fins—located on the part sticking outside of the window—aren’t bent and/or folded over, which will restrict airflow, Roberson says. While you’re back there, clean off any dirt or debris on the coils, which Bux says can “impeded heat exchange.” Frost buildup is another sign clogged condenser coils, he says.

4. Something is blocking the airflow

Make sure the outside part of the window unit isn’t blocked by anything that would reduce airflow, Roberson says.

5. The condensate drain is blocked

Check the condensate drain to make sure it’s not obstructed and operating properly, Roberson adds.

6. There’s a problem with the settings and/or power supply

Check the unit’s thermostat settings. This sounds obvious, but maybe you forgot that you set it to “low” at night and forgot to set it back to full capacity during the day. Bux also recommends making sure the power supply is adequate by checking the breaker panel and inspecting the power cord.

7. It’s the wrong size

If your AC unit is switching on and off frequently, Bux says that it could be a sign that the unit isn’t powerful enough to cool the room or space that it’s in. One way to find out if this is the case is to check the BTU rating and ensure that it’s high enough for the square footage of the room.

8. It’s actually broken

If you’ve checked all of the areas mentioned above and you’re not in the middle of a heatwave, your AC window unit may actually be broken. “The unit may have a problem with the compressor, or refrigerant levels may be low, or there is a refrigerant leak,” Roberson says. Water leakage can stem from a failing gasket, Bux says, while unusual noises—like buzzing or grinding—may be the result of loose components, a failing motor, or electrical issues.

Should you repair or replace a broken AC window unit?

In short, it comes down to the age of the AC unit. If it’s more than eight to 10 years old, it’s usually less expensive to replace the unit because parts to fix it may be harder to find, and it may use outdated, less-energy-efficient technology, Roberson says.

For newer AC window units, Bux says that if repair costs exceed 50% of a new unit’s price, you’re better off replacing it—especially considering the likelihood future repairs. Plus, because new units are more energy efficient, you’ll likely save money on your electricity bills.