Keeping It Real!

As a homebuyer, it’s incredibly important to keep it real—and by that, we mean you need to be realistic about buying in today’s market.

First of all, everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to the shopping process. You need to understand what your situation is from a financing and risk-aversion perspective so that you look at the right properties right from the start. You want to look in the right price point for the area that you’re shopping in. There’s nothing worse than looking at $500,000 homes and finding out you should have been looking at $400,000 or $420,000 homes.

You need to make sure that the home is priced accurately for the area. There are a lot of factors that go into home value, including how long the home has been on the market, and your agent can guide you to make sure that you're looking at the right homes.

Secondly, it’s common knowledge that most homes are selling well above asking price. If you have the right agent representing you, they will tell you what the house is likely to sell for. They will also tell you which contingencies to remove from the offer in order to win the house. Your agent will tell you what price to offer, what steps to take when it comes to escalating your price, and how to create a strategic offer.

Finally, once you are under contract on a home, you have to deal with the inspection. If the seller didn’t provide you with a pre-inspection, then you have the chance to inspect the property. An inspector can uncover all kinds of problems on a property, and every inspector is different when it comes to reporting issues.

Keep in mind that inspectors look for major problems that will be expensive issues for you down the road. They aren’t worried about cosmetic issues like making sure the electrical plate is perfectly aligned. They are looking for big, costly problems.

You should also remember that if you request too many repairs, the seller can always refuse and put their home back on the hottest market Seattle has ever seen.

Since Seattle is in such a hot seller’s market, you have less leverage as a buyer. It’s important to be realistic. If the seller counters your first request, be flexible and go back with an alternative.

If you’ve made several offers in this market already and haven’t been successful, don’t give up. Just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you win in this hot market.

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