This is not your father’s real estate market. Like in the past, buying a home still starts with making the right offer, but coming up with that offer today so the seller will accept it takes a whole new approach tailored to today’s mindset and market conditions. Follow these three tips to make sure the next offer you make on a home is the one that gets you into that home.
1. Prepare for Maximum Velocity
Properties move at a much different, and much more rapid, pace nowadays. The latest stats from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Realtors’ Confidence Index are that homes for sale today, as of this summer 2021 writing, are only staying on the market for about 17 days. Compare this with 24 days for the same period two years earlier and 39 days for the same period just four years earlier.
2. Prepare to Negotiate
Getting a seller to accept your offer requires you to understand the numbers behind a home’s value and your own creditworthiness to lenders as a potential borrower. Getting pre-approved for your home loan can help assuage any fears a seller may have that you might not be able to make good on your offer, even if he or she accepts it. This gives you a competitive advantage in any potential bidding war, as it presents you as a serious and qualified buyer.
Once you’re ready to make that offer, be sure it’s a strong but reasonable one. Whereas, in previous years, offering the asking price or near it was good enough to get your offer accepted, but no longer. One way to help determine the right offer to make is to enlist the aid of a professional realtor or agent who can help you take into account critical factors of the competitive market, including market value, demand, and recent sales. (See more on this in the following section.)
After you make your offer, be ready for a counteroffer from the seller. No matter how appealing and appropriate you think your offer may be, there’s always a chance you’ll receive a counteroffer anyway. If you really want the home, be flexible in considering how much you’re willing to bend in order to reach an agreement. Beyond price, you may also need to adjust other contingencies like move-in dates.
3. Enlist a Professional
To win in any real estate market, especially today’s newly shifting and reshaping one, you need a qualified real estate professional at your side. From helping draft and submit the best offer you can to helping you seal the deal, real estate agents and brokers understand which metaphorical buttons to press and levers to pull to persuade a buyer to accept your offer over any others.
A professional might suggest extra buyer enticements to include in your offer, more time to move out, or ensuring a quick closing.
With these tips in your back pocket, you can more likely present an offer that gets you to closing on your next dream home.
