If you're worried about being outbid on a home, including an escalation clause could help. An escalation clause is "whatever the highest offer is I'll pay you more." It presumes that price is literally the only thing that matters. An escalation clause is essentially a clause that you add to the contract either to your original contract or to a potential counter offer. An escalation clause is a real estate contract, sometimes called an escalator, that lets a home buyer say: "I will pay X price for this home. If a buyer is the successful winner of what is a bidding war, the listing agent is required to present the competing offer to verify the escalation. An escalation clause is used in a Northern Virginia real estate contract when there is a lot of interest from other buyers in a certain property. Federal Aviation Administration rules prohibit the use of escalation clauses for materials. An escalation clause states a buyer is willing to raise their offer if a seller receives a higher offer.