I am hearing from more and more buyers lately who feel helpless as prices begin to rise rapidly and multiple offers are competing for most properties below $500,000. Just because the buyer’s market bonanza has come to an end does not mean that your buyer power has eroded completely away. Here are some ways you can work to ensure that you have the best chance of getting what you want.
1. Know What You Want
The more you can focus your efforts the better position you will be in. This may be by narrowing which complex or area you are interested in, determining what floor plan you want, or choosing one specific must have feature (e.g. corner lot). Once you know what you want you can determine where those properties are that meet your requirements. Do not just look for active homes that meet your criteria, look for ANY home. Many homes in “hold do not show status” or “back up offers” on the MLS, while you may not be able to go look around inside them, are still actively in negotiations to purchase. There is also a chance, especially in more established communities, that someone was thinking about selling, but haven’t listed. If you really must have something, and are willing to do a little more negotiation it is possible to get what you want.
2. Price or Property?
Are you willing to pay the price for the property you want? Doing a closed sale comparison of the area will help you determine what price the homes are worth. If you are set on a particular area or feature you will most likely need to pay market price at the least. If price alone is your determining factor in a sale, you will need to be looking where homes are actively closing in your price range, rather than where homes are listing in your price range. Many homes are being listed very low in order to start a bidding war.
If you are willing to pay for what you want consider asking your Realtor to see if homeowners not currently listed would sell at the price you are willing to pay. While this is not the most likely outcome, it’s worth a try. The most important thing is that you have nothing to lose in trying.
3. Special Conditions Can Be Your Advantage
If you have patience and persistence you can gain an advantage offering on difficult properties. They may help you to ensure a position as the only offer the bank is looking at. In the event that there were multiple offers, many of those buyers are more likely to walk away from a difficult transaction. This can help you to get a pretty good deal on the property can be equated to the lottery. You can’t win if you don’t play. In order to play this strategy don’t be afraid of putting in multiple offers on several properties. Even if 3 offers were accepted at the same time, as a buyer you have 17 days (or as written into the contract) to complete your “inspections” and cancel the contract. This allows you to select the home you most want.
4. Getting In There
Many difficult properties are the ones that are not allowing potential buyers to view the property. If you have determined that this property meets your specific requirements but are not sure what the condition is, it’s still worth offering on. The contract should be “subject to satisfactory interior inspection” so that when the offer is acceptedyou can view it and determine if it is worth what you have offered before the sale progresses to escrow. You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain in the event your offer is accepted and the home is in good shape. Offer on the assumption that the home is in good condition, and if upon inspection it isn’t in line with other homes that closed at the price you offered, you can revisit the negotiation table.
5. How Does My Realtor Fit Into This?
If you are looking in the $500,000 and less price range in Orange County you really need to be sure your agent is willing to do the work necessary to get you what you want. This agent works for you. I am hearing from many buyers disapointed that their agent isn’t contacting other agents and that the home search process has been dragging on since the begining of the year with one offer rejected after the other. Persistance, perserverance, and a multiple approach strategy are the surest way to get you what you want. If they aren’t working for you, they are working against you.
