In a seller’s market where there are more buyers than the number of homes put up for sale, buying your dream home could be a tough task. If you thought your full-price offer would be accepted easily, think again because it’s unlikely to happen. Does it mean you should give up on your hope of buying your dream home? Definitely not!
Those struggling to find an answer to ‘how do we buy houses in a seller’s market?’ can benefit from these tips mentioned below.
1. Make a clean offer
You should try to make your offer as clean as possible. This means it shouldn’t depend on you receiving the sale proceeds of another home or come with some other financial constraints. The offer should ideally not have any seller concessions too. Seller concessions refer to the things a buyer may seek beyond the offer price, such as help with the closing costs, etc.
You may even choose not to add traditional contingencies like an appraisal, loan, and inspection. But this doesn’t mean you can’t safeguard your interests. For instance, you could get your loan entirely underwritten. This way, you’ll complete the total loan process with your lender prior to making an offer on the property. Finally, when you make an offer, you’ll be able to put down your loan contingency confidently, if you wish to, with little to no risk.
2. Don’t ask for the excluded items
If the seller has already excluded items like that magnificent chandelier or those comfy garden furniture, asking for them could weaken your offer. This is especially true where the seller has received a few more comparable offers where the prospective buyer isn’t asking for these privately-owned items. So, you should avoid asking for such personal property. Instead, stay focused on what matters more – winning the bid on the house and finally, buying it.
3. Send the seller a personal letter
Not all sellers care only about the price they’ll get. Even sellers who plan to ‘sell my house for cash quickly’ or look for a company like Cash Buyer New Jersey may be somewhat choosy about the kind of buyer who’ll be buying their home. This is especially true for those who’ve lived in the property for several years and have a strong emotional attachment to it. As a result, these people prefer to sell their homes to someone who’ll care for the property. You can leverage such emotions by writing a personal letter to the seller where you give a brief overview of yourself and talk about the reasons that have made you fall in love with the house. You should also emphasize the reasons why you would like to make it your home. Knowing their home would be in good, caring hands could make sellers, who are emotionally attached to their homes, decide to accept your offer. Thus, sending the seller a personal letter could improve the chances of your offer being accepted, especially in case there’s close competition among multiple buyers to buy this house.
4. Put down a larger EMD
By putting down a larger earnest money deposit (EMD), you can prove you’re a reliable buyer. Usually, EMDs are approximately 1% to 3% of the home’s purchase price, on average. This amount is typically held by the real estate broker. The EMD you make will contribute to the down payment of your home and the closing cost. Thus, by putting down a larger EMD, you can indicate your genuine intentions to buy. However, you need to be sure of buying the home before putting down a larger EMD. Else, your EMD could be forfeited by the seller as compensation for his wasted time in case you’ve signed the contract earlier to buy but end up not buying it.
We hope the tips above would make your home buying process a breeze in a seller’s market.
