Currently in the same boat as the OP. Looking at houses in the far NW Chicago suburbs and have put in 6 offers for different houses. The most recent was the one we were SURE we were going to get, even though there 25 offers in the 48 hours it was on the market. We went 10% over asking, wrote a letter, have a friend who is a neighbor and good friend of the seller who vouched for my wife and I, but in the end they went with a higher offer and we were left in the top 3.