The real estate market is changing making many home sellers very happy and creating frustration for home buyers. Guess what we are not in a Buyer’s Market any longer. Like other areas across the country we are seeing homes selling in a matter of days with multiple offers.
As I have said before, if you were thinking you were going to wait until the market hit bottom before you purchase a home — you waited too long. Today home buyers are finding that there is less inventory than last year and more buyers motivated by some of the lowest interest rates we have seen in years.
We are now seeing those rates rise and with each increase it reduces what you can purchase. Buyers are getting off the fence all at one time, at a time that we are seeing not as many homes on the market.
Get Your Offer Accepted
With it being so competitive how can you get your offer accepted when there are multiple offers involved? Here are a few things that you can do to make your offer more appealing to today’s home seller’s:
- Make an uncomplicated offer without long closing dates
- Don’t make the sale contingent on the sale of your current home
- Tighten up your Home Inspection timeline
- Make sure you have a mortgage pre-approval letter from your bank
- Don’t ask the seller to pay for:
- Closing costs
- Home Warranty
- Veterans Administration Funding Fee
- Typical initial deposit is $1,000 — the more you initially put down, shows the seller how serious you are about purchasing their home
- Write a letter to the home owner and share why you wish to purchase the home, give them an idea of how much you like their home and how happy your family will be in it.
Do you really want that home? Here are a few additional things a home buyer may want to do to make sure that it is your offer that they take over the other offers they have on the table:
- Don’t have a home inspection – purchase the home “as is”.
- Make your deposit non-refundable if your financing falls through.
- Ask over asking. Seriously? Yes I am very serious. But don’t be silly either; make sure that what you offer will get passed the appraisal for the bank. Working with your REALTOR to determine the number is the smartest thing.
- Offer to pay some of the SELLERS closing costs, the commission for your REALTOR, or transfer fees. Check with your Accountant/Financial Advisor, these expenses may be tax deductible.
- Know that CASH is king! An uncomplicated cash deal is always more appealing than having to deal with financing with a lending institution.
- Shorten your closing timeline. Typical closing is 60 days, try and close in 45 days. If you are obtaining financing, make sure your lender can make this happen.
- Make sure your offer is complete with all required documents and is neat and orderly. Often if there are so many offers they start to eliminate because of incomplete offers.
How About One Of These Homes?
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All statistics are gathered from the Buffalo Niagara Association of REALTORS®. For more information – call our Myriad Team @ Keller Williams Lancaster at: (716) 650-0051
Thinking of selling your Western New York home? Interested in finding out the current market value of your single family home, condo or investment property? Then call us at (716) 650-0051 to discuss what is happening in today’s Western New York Real Estate Market. We would be happy to give you a personalized Comparative Market Analysis for your home or assist you to purchase a home.