If you’re hoping to buy your dream home in a seller’s market, you must be quick and ready to pull the trigger. Buyers who are not prepared miss out on the best homes, and have to spend much more time and effort to find and land the house of their dreams.
Here are four rules to buying your dream home in a seller’s market:
Four Rules to Buying Your Dream Home in a Seller's Market
- Be realistic about what you can afford. In a competitive market, sellers are aware that they have what everyone wants. Credit worthiness matters.
- Be serious about your offer to purchase. Provide the seller with a pre-approval letter from your lender, or be prepared to show you have cash to close. Sellers want to know they are working with a buyer who can get to the closing table and pay for their property. A “pre-qualification” letter from a lender is not an assurance to the seller that a buyer can obtain financing to purchase the property.
- Shorten “option” periods, and increase option money. A ten-day, $100 option period won’t cut it for buyers who are competing in a seller’s market. Sellers do not want their property tied up with a potential buyer. Be ready to complete your due diligence within five days. Also, increasing the amount of option money (non-refundable, but goes toward the property purchase if closed) lets the seller know you are serious.
- Be personal. Buyers who include personal letters with family pictures can have an impact on sellers, especially when the seller is parting with a family home. People do business with whom they like! When sellers are given an opportunity to “see” a family that will potentially make new memories in their home, they often consider the offer, even if it is not the highest one received.
What techniques have you used to help yourself or others buy their dream home in a seller’s market?
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