Purchasing a home can be an exhausting process as it can take a while to find the right fit. When you find the house you want, making a bid quickly can be the difference between buying it and missing out, especially in a seller’s market.
A competitive housing market with low inventory can create bidding wars and other issues. Here are 4 things you won’t want to do in a seller’s market:
Not getting pre-approved for a loan. Finding a mortgage lender and getting pre-approved for a home loan should be one of the first things you do before shopping for a house. It will help you figure out how much house you can afford and will show sellers that your offer is serious. In many cases, sellers won’t even take an offer if you’re not pre-approved.
Lowballing. Making an offer well below asking price, or any amount below the asking price, could lead to it being thrown out immediately. Multiple offers are common in a seller’s market, so submitting your highest and best is a good strategy for winning a house.
Stalling. It’s also important to act fast and submit your offer as quickly as possible. Homes can sell within 24 hours of being listed or sometimes even before they’re listed, so work with a real estate agent who can move quickly on your behalf.
Seeking concessions. If it’s your dream home, don’t put too many contingencies in the offer. In the grand scheme of things, whether a seller includes appliances in a home sale shouldn’t matter as much as having your offer accepted. Those are things you can negotiate later or leave out entirely. You want your deal to be easy for the sellers to accept, and having too many concession requests can make it difficult.
You’ll still want to have home inspections to make sure the home isn’t falling apart. But you may want to skip on asking for the small repairs. If you want the home badly enough, and the repairs won’t cause you to go over budget, consider fixing things yourself after you buy the home.
