Skip to main content

Maybe High School DID Prepare Us for Life (Posted July 18, 2016)

This is nothing earth-shattering for any realtor who’s been around the block a couple of times and seen the market go up and down once or twice.  Even though it’s not information that’s going to make you shoot soda (or any other beverage of your choice) through your nose, I thought it would be good to include it here as a gentle reminder – and perhaps allow you to share this with your clients.  And if you’re new to the real estate world, this might have been covered in school, but it’s possible you might have been preoccupied with Pokémon Go or what our presidential candidates were saying about one another out on the campaign trail.  I’m not asking that you provide me with a reason or excuse: I’m just going to share it with you for your own personal illumination. 

The folks at Realtor.com were kind enough recently to offer up a cheat sheet for surviving a seller’s market.  Times like these are not for the faint-of-heart buyers, nor are they ideal for sellers who don’t take the time to get educated (or get a really good agent – know any?). 

Tip #1 to Buyers: Be on call. Many will say, “If you're only looking now and then when it's convenient, you're probably wasting your time." They suggest treating house hunting like job hunting. If someone calls with a lead, follow up promptly to gauge whether it could be a good fit – above all, don't linger.

Tip #2 to Buyers: Bring the paperwork. To be taken seriously, buyers should get a mortgage pre-approval letter – we have something better – as well as a "proof of funds" form from their bank to show they have enough to cover a down payment. Timing is everything.

Tips #3 to Buyers: Limit the contingencies. In a seller's market, buyers may need to drop some of the contingencies. Sellers want the fewest hurdles to closing as possible. If your buyers come in with several contingencies — such as "if" they secure financing — the sellers will likely bypass their offer and take another with less hassle. Also, don't waste your time low-balling a seller – always put in an aggressive offer.

Tip #4 to Buyers: Cast a wide net. Search for homes outside prime locations if faced with limited or high-priced choices. Buyers need to carefully consider those things on which they're willing to compromise. Sometimes properties sit, even in a seller's market, because of a problem that is scaring other buyers away such as some renovation work that may need to be done. Those "flaws," however, might not be a big deal to your buyers. Finding a house this way can also cut down on the amount of competition you will face. 


Again, I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but it bears reminding: you’re the key to getting the buyers to follow these four tips.  It might make you feel like you’re back at the kitchen table and you’re telling your high school child (or you’re the one being told by your parent) that the future rides on getting this project or homework done on time, but the payoff when it got done was well worth it, right?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Beauty of Ugly

There’s an old saying, “A face only a mother could love.”   (I can assure you it was invented centuries before I was born.)   That saying, though, does remind me of the actor Steve Buscemi .   Most everyone knows he’s made a career for himself being the “weird looking guy” in movies, and I’m going to take a wild guess and say his paychecks have been healthy enough to buy a couple of houses.   With that said, though, I’m sure in very short order, he realized that he wouldn’t be winning the parts of Ethan Hunt in “Mission: Impossible” or Logan in “X Men” – he sought out what he thought was available and reachable. Ideally, most of us want the brand new house that no one has lived in before us or the beautifully maintained house that has a fully remodeled kitchen and newly expanded master bathroom.   Conversely, we’re not walking around and saying to ourselves and anyone wh o will listen, “I want the house that had a small fire on the back half of it twel...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Naked Truth About Home Buying

It’s highly likely I’ve already written about this, but I’ll try to make it entertaining at least.   There’s a guy who works in ou r office who suffers from kidney stones – and from what he’s described, “suffers” might even be a little too tame a word for it.   As an aside, though, when you ask him how painful the experience is, he gets an odd smile and says, “It’s the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced, but it’s hard to describe.   I’ve heard a lot of people compare it to the pain a woman experiences while giving birth.   To that, I must say, those people are big, fat liars!   I’ve been in the presence of a woman giving birth, twice, and her pain has to be 100 times worse.   They’re passing the equivalent of a Buick.   I’m passing a pumpkin seed.”   He’s always been a colorful fellow. He’s had this wonderful condition for over a decade now, and the stones make their appearance about every 18 months or so.   Up until recently, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saving Money is Music to Your Ears (Posted January 9, 2017)

For all the “old” people out there, you’ll instantly know the name Daryl Hall.   For those of you who are still on your original set of adult teeth (perhaps because you got your braces off fairly recently), Daryl Hall is a musician (the blonde half of the duo Hall & Oates – the one who DIDN’T have a mustache that looked like it was straight out of an ’ 80s adult film) with a number of albums (albums a re these big, black 12-inch vinyl “platters” that look like a pregnant CD) that have been certified as gold/platinum and hit songs to his credit, some of which he recorded himself and some he wrote for others.   Going back to 2007, he started a show on the internet called Live from Daryl’s House ; in 2011, he took it to cable where it currently airs.   The concept is relatively simple: he has musicians from all genres and eras come to his house to jam with him and his band.   In between songs, they talk about music and memories, and they usually end up eatin...
Post a Comment
Read more