Spring is when our buying season blooms and the majority of homes are bought and sold between the months of May and September. For buyers, preparation is key and it begins with a meeting with their lender to determine how much house they can afford. However, what most buyers fail to consider is the equally important component of mental preparation. Here are a few of my favorite spring things buyers must remember, especially if multiple offers and over-asking prices become common this buying season.
Free Your Mind
In the fitness world, most people limit how hard they push themselves because they mentally shutdown long before their body physically shuts down. When training for a marathon, the sage advice you'll receive is that it's all a mental game; get past that and the run becomes much easier. Mental shutdowns prevent us from making the progress we could otherwise make and the same goes for house hunting. For many buyers it takes losing a home or two before they realize that making below-market or timid offers doesn't result in a great deal if it doesn't grab the seller's attention. Buyers who mess around making too many weak offers will end up priced out of the market or lose the home they were hoping for. Making an aggressive offer doesn't mean blindly throwing money at homes; it means focusing on the data to structure an offer. Discover the answers to intelligent questions such as -- How long do homes in your target neighborhood stay on the market? How much above or below the asking price do these homes usually sell for? Are there multiple offers and if so, how many? When it comes to how much to offer, take a deep breath and follow the data.
Strong Wills versus
Strong Won'ts
After powering through the lender preparation, the hunt, the negotiations then the accepted offer, many buyers suffer from a feeling of post-contract blues. But trust me, Weedhopper, buyers who want a smooth and successful transaction and be happy with their home for the next 30 years need to stay just as engaged during the sprint to the closing table as they were during the house hunt. The post-contract period will include hiring, scheduling and showing up for the home inspector, negotiating repairs, if any, with the seller, staying on top of the appraisal process, gathering up and delivering additional documents to your lender and my personal favorite, learning all about the wonderful world of underwriting! But buyers who work with smart agents need not worry because you'll get any number of reminders to ensure these tasks get done. Just keep in mind that after all the time and effort put in to finding your dream home, the last thing the buyer, seller, lender and agents want is for things to fall through the cracks. So stay strong!
Fall Down 7 Times,
Stand Up 8
As is often the case, many buyers will lose at least a few properties before they get an accepted offer; this is especially painful when the buyers are emotional about the property. Fortunately every house hunting "failure" is an opportunity to course-correct their strategy. Every home a buyer makes an offer on, but doesn't get, can give clues about the things they can do differently the next time to get them closer to their dream home. Buyers who get overbid will take the time to sit down with their agent to discuss a budget reality check. And to prevent buyer's from missing out on their potential dream home, their agent will notify them when a new property in their price range and preferred neighborhood comes on the market -- she'll also let the buyer know if they need to make this home a top priority and see it as soon as possible. Successful buyers face losses head on, then put a plan of action in place so they do not repeat their mistakes.
Be One With Each Other -- Ommmmm
Although agents try to keep buyers rooted in reality and advise them not to get emotional about a property, we also don't expect them to be robots; we want to see that they have some level of excitement about this, the purchase of their dream home and possibly the biggest financial investment they'll ever make. However, when co-buyers are not on the same page about really significant issues like their lists of wants and needs, or the importance of the time between seeing a home, deciding to make an offer and deciding how much to offer, then they will be faced with delays and losses. It's not uncommon for a home to drop into the hands of one couple while the battling Bickersons argue over paint colors or, and I'm not joking, shrubbery. To prevent blood from being shed and to move things along, the real estate agent/mediator will initiate a conversation about productive communication methods. And the fact is that even though they lost this house, there are others out there. But, when the next home comes along they can come together and make the best and cleanest offer that is within the realm of what they can afford, then accept the consequences. Or they can continue to waste precious time.
For answers to all your real estate questions, contact Leslie Ramsey at 501-620-3909, or email her at [email protected].
Local on 03/31/2015