Home buyers will almost always be in competition with other buyers when it’s a sellers’ market. Obviously, for the home seller, this is the prime position to be in. For the home buyer however, it can be a frustrating, hair-pulling situation. In a sellers’ market, a property’s asking price and its selling price can be vastly different. Because there are multiple interested buyers, the selling price can be well above the original listing price.
Often in a sellers’ market, a home owner will be smart enough to develop a strategy with their real estate agent to initially under-price their property (to generate a lot of interest), which inevitably will lead to a bidding war. This tactic, although beneficial for the home seller, can make a home buyer feel as though there is no sense of control.
The seller’s goal is to obviously get the best price they can for their property, but the offer they choose could have to do with certain conditions that go along with the purchase offer. Here are five things that a home buyer can do to feel more in control, but moreover, can assist the home buyer in their bid for the home.
1. Fewer subjects make more appealing offers to sellers.
2. Ensure that home financing is secure.
3. Assess the competition. The home buyer should get their real estate agent to learn who the competition is, whether one or many. This can help the home buyer gain a solid perspective of the playing field.
4. The home buyer should do an advanced home inspection. This is in tune with the first tip, as this would be one last subject to include in the offer.
5. The home buyer should establish the price that they are willing to pay and also just how badly they want the home. The home buyer should make every effort to make an offer that they feel confident about.
One last word of advice, if all else fails to garner any sense of control on the home buyer’s front, is to make what is called a “bully offer”. This is where the home buyer, through their agent, presents an offer to the home seller before the indicated date. The hope here is that the seller will consider the offer without seeing any other offers. The key to a “bully offer” is to ensure that it is an enticing offer and includes little to zero conditions.
Finally, the home buyer should be aware that there may in fact be no competition, maybe their offer is the only real one on the table. But even then, the home buyer should still make an enticing offer, because if the home buyer wants the home badly enough, they don’t want to present an offer that may be considered insulting, thus alienating the home seller, and possibly be out of the running for the home for sale.
