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One of Patrick Jordan’s home-buying clients recently offered $100,000 more than the asking price for a house in Rancho Mirage.

What happened next was unexpected — and a bit perplexing.

“There were 10 offers — 10. We wound up being in the top four, but we lost; we didn’t get it,” said Jordan, broker associate with Patrick-Stewart Properties in Palm Springs.

In some neighborhoods across the Coachella Valley, prospective buyers are finding they must compete for quality, well-priced homes — something that happened regularly before the recession hit.

Homes getting multiple offers and even bidding wars are often short sales or foreclosed homes, usually low to moderately priced houses in desirable locations.

Buyers sometimes not only have to act fast, but they must be willing to pay more than the asking price.

Of course, so much depends on price, what shape a house is in, neighborhood and other factors, Jordan said.

“People who have pie-in-the-sky ideas — we’re going back to 2006 or 2007 — well, we’re a long, long way from that,” Jordan said. “But if a property is priced right, and it’s in a decent location, it’s going to sell.”

When sellers field multiple offers, it usually boils down to an issue of supply and demand, Realtors aid.

There is a relatively low inventory of affordable homes in some valley communities, as well as a dearth of new construction, so buyers must respond quickly when a new listing pops up.

Ruben Herrera of College Station, Texas, said he got caught flat-footed when he put in an offer on an Indio home on a golf course with mountain views. An investor outbid him with a cash offer.

Herrera eventually found another home but ended up paying about $20,000 more.

When one of broker associate Jim Franklin’s clients listed a home for $250,000 in Movie Colony East, the reaction was immediate.

“There were 20 people wanting to look at the house in the first couple days,” said Franklin, with Prudential California Realty in Palm Springs.