Dear Olivia,
I’ve been in the running for two different homes recently, only to lose out to other buyers. What can I do to increase my chances of buying a home in this seller’s market?
Sincerely,
Sick of Losing
This is an intense seller’s market that is seeing a lot of buyers in your situation – an ability and desire to buy a home, but losing out on a property to another buyer.
The good news is that the seller’s market won’t last forever. At some point, the market will shift and begin to favor buyers again. But until then, there are some crucial things you can do to make it more likely that you end up with the home you want.
Get Pre-Approved for a Home Loan
Getting pre-approved for a loan is a great way to communicate to a seller that you are serious about buying, and more importantly, that you have the financial means to pay for the home.
It also streamlines the process once you find the home that you want. It means that you’ve already submitted a mortgage application and the supporting documentation and that the wheels are already in motion. This will often give you a leg up on other buyers who might just have a pre-qualification letter or might not have spoken to a lender yet at all.
Make the Best Offer You Can
Now is not the time to lowball a seller…
In some cases, there will be multiple offers on a property in a seller’s market. That means that if you come in with a low offer, the seller might have one, two, three or more other offers they can look at. Offering a low price will get your offer put on the bottom of the pile!
This doesn’t mean that you should stretch yourself too far. Stay within your budget, but make the offer as attractive as possible to entice the seller to go with your offer instead of someone else’s.
Be Ready to Compromise
In a seller’s market, there are more buyers than homes for sale. This means that to get into a home, you might need to revisit your “must-haves” and be willing to remove some of them.
For example, you might want a 4 bed, 2 bath home with an attached 2-car garage, but if a 3 bed, 2 bath home with a 2-car garage becomes available, you might need to be willing to sacrifice the fourth bedroom.
A seller’s market is not the time to be picky about what features a home does or does not have. Again, this doesn’t mean you have to abandon all of your must-haves, but be willing to be flexible, otherwise you might not find a home to buy for a while!
Keep an Eagle Eye on New Listings
In this kind of market, you can’t make looking for a home a leisurely process. Instead, you need to keep eyes on your favorite real estate website or app for new listings that might meet your criteria.
Don’t spend so much time refreshing web pages and checking apps that you can’t otherwise function in your daily life. But also don’t wait until bedtime to do your daily property search, either.
Set notifications in real estate apps to notify you when properties that meet your criteria are listed. Take time to contact your real estate agent about any leads they might have about homes that will be on the market soon. Just be proactive, and you might find out about your dream home before anyone else!
Good luck in your home search! As always, feel free to contact me if you have any other questions!
~Olivia