Good Real Estate Question of the Week

How can I, as a first time home buyer, stand out in today’s seller’s market?

With the current market dynamics of home buyers exceeding home sellers (defined as a seller’s market), the competition for good homes, especially in the price range under $250k, has become fierce.  There seems to be an ample supply of buyers who have access to a good amount of cash and they are flexing that “cash” muscle in their offers to stand out to savvy and discriminating home sellers.  The current environment is seeing many properties that present a good or great value entertaining “multiple offers”: more than one offer available to a seller simultaneously.  So, if you happen to be in a position to have extra cash to put into the transaction, here are a few tips to best position yourself.  Consider: a larger down payment (5%, 10% or more), conventional verses FHA or VA financing, strong earnest money check ($2,000 to $5,000 or more depending on the home price),  pay your own closing costs rather than asking the seller to pay them for you.  Now, if cash is your Achilles’s heel, all hope is still not lost.  Here are some suggestions that will still appear attractive to a seller.  Consider: have a rock-solid pre-approval letter (this means confidence with you and your loan specialist such that you are 99% positive that he or she can close the loan for you at the offer price), relative to the strong pre-approval, select a date in the offer by which you essentially promise the seller you will have final underwritten approval for your loan (a date at least a week or more before the scheduled closing date), shorten the number of days you will be allowed to both conduct an inspection and respond to the seller, offer the seller the flexibility to stay in the home for a day or a few days after the closing (this way they can finish moving out once they know the closing is complete and they have their check in hand)

Email or call Larry with your Real Estate Questions.

651-702-4000   Email:  larry@larryeberhard.com

Like us on FaceBook