Real Estate NewsHow to Buy a Home in a Sellers" Market
Trying to buy a home in a sellers" market is a little like not having a date
on Saturday night. Everyone else seems to be having all the fun but you.
Since there are more buyers than homes for sale in a sellers" market, homes
sell quickly and for higher prices than they normally would. Seeing homes in
which you are interested sell out from under you and at outrageous prices can
be frustrating and discouraging. You continue to drive your favorite
neighborhoods, but begin to lose hope that you"ll ever get there first and for
the right price.
What can you do? If you are in a sellers" market, and wish to buy a home,
flip the odds back in your favor. Do the following:
Be prepared to buy.
Get your finances in order, clean up your credit, and talk to a mortgage
broker or direct lender about becoming pre-qualified for a loan. Knowing how
much you can spend can narrow your search and make it more fun. You will also
be in a much better position to act quickly should the right house come your
way.
Pick an area where you want to live.
Decide on the lifestyle you want and what kind of home you want . Think
about how you would like to live your
daily life. Picture your activities and how you want to spend your time. The
right type of home will come to you. Do you like to entertain large groups of
people? You may want a house with a great room. Do you like to travel and don"t
care much for maintenance? Something in a gated community may be more your
style. Do you love antiques or restoring things? How about looking at a
historic property, or an older home? Focusing on your greatest wants will help
you and your Realtor find the best home for you.
Hire a REALTOR®.
A buyers" market isn"t the time to look for a home by yourself. You need
help - someone who has an ear to the ground in areas where you don"t. That
person is a Realtor. Find a Realtor who specializes in the neighborhood in
which you want to live and the type of home you want to buy. Realtors have
niches, and usually they are in a particular area of town. Ask around and find
out who the historic home specialist is in the neighborhood you want to buy.
Call several brokers and tell them what you are looking for and what kind of
person with whom you
wish to work. Then interview the agents the brokers suggest to you and make
certain the one who is most in tune with your needs gets the job.
Be willing to sign an exclusive buyers" agreement.
A Realtor who has you under contract to represent you is a lot more likely
to call you with a new listing to see than an uncommitted buyer. Make certain
you are the one that gets the call.
Use the Internet and other contacts to your advantage.
Many home search sites offer email notification of new listings, including
Realtor.com, HomeAdvisor.com and Coldwell Banker. Don"t forget the FSBO sites,
too. Also, tell everyone you know that you are looking for a home and to ask
their neighbors is they know anyone who is selling. Put a note on the bulletin
board at church, at the office, at the day care center. You may get lucky and
come across a home before it hits the market.
Make sure your Realtor is networking.
It is against the code of ethics for a Realtor to "hoard" a home once the
seller has signed a listing agreement.
The agent has 24 hours to get the listing into the MLS. But, in a sellers"
market, many homes change hands without ever making it into the MLS database
because of the unique networking abilities of the agents. Make sure the
agent you select is the one other agents call when they have a new listing.
Don"t use multiple agents.
The worst thing you can do in a sellers" market is to attempt to "beat the
system" by asking several Realtors to find you a home. They will quickly figure
out they are working for the same buyer, and you will become a joke.
Make Your Offer the Most Attractive.
If you have the opportunity to bid on a home with multiple offers, make
sure yours is the most attractive offer. Make sure the seller knows how much
you like the home, how prepared you are to buy it and that you will make for an
easy transaction. Keep contingencies to a minimum; the seller will assume that
any contingency is a loophole to get out of the contract. In a sellers" market,
they have no reason to allow you to tie up the home. Make it clear that you are
ready to move toward closing. If offers come down to personalities, a seller
will want to convey the home to someone who "appreciates" it and poses the
least amount of trouble.
Have a tie-breaker ready.
If bidding is close, make sure you can offer a tie-breaker. Offer to pay
some of the seller"s closing costs, and be willing to accommodate as many of
the sellers" wishes as possible including move-out dates, and closing dates.