As a buyer, there are few things that are likely to shake up your nerves quite like finding yourself in love with a property that is already getting a lot of attention from competing buyers. I’m sure you already know that getting yourself into a bidding war or situation in which there are several competing buyers can get overwhelming and dangerously expensive very quickly. However, if you have the right Realtor on your side and these game-changing strategies, you can avoid overpaying for the house you love.
Get Pre-Approved If You Need Financing
When it comes to any negotiation, your first goal is to collect and gain as much leverage as possible. One of the easiest ways to get leverage is to get pre-approved. In fact, you should get pre-approved before you even begin looking at houses. If you find yourself competing with another buyer that hasn’t begin the process or has only gotten themselves pre-qualified you will have the upper hand and be viewed as the better buyer.
Choose Properties Well Within Your Price Range
When you find yourself shopping for a home during a seller’s market, you can pretty much guarantee that you will find yourself in a multiple offer situation. That means, you want to ensure that you will have some wiggle room to be able to beat out the competition. Since money talks more than anything in real estate, I suggest you leave yourself a fair amount (at least $10k) of wiggle room on the price. For example, if the top end of your budget is $400K shop for properties that are $390k and below.
Keeps Everyone’s Emotions In Check
I know it can be difficult to keep your emotions out of the transaction but it is vital to your future that you do your best. Just because you fall in love with a home doesn’t mean it is your home and you don’t want to start spending energy imagining your life there until it is yours. It is important that you are prepared to walk away at any time, even if you do go under contract because crazy things can come up while a property is in escrow.
Offer Cash If You Can
I know most people can’t afford to pay cash for a home. However, if it is a realistic possibility for you, offering cash will give you a massive advantage over the competition. This is because the house won’t have to pass various tests put forth by the bank that wants to protect their investment. So if you come to the table with cash against buyers needing a mortgage, odds are you will win that bidding war. In fact, you might even be able to offer less money if you’re paying cash because the closing process will be immensely easier on the sellers.
Put Down A Healthy Deposit
Another way to show sellers that you are serious and won’t back out after a week is to put down a healthy deposit. It is pretty standard to put down $1,000 for a deposit but bumping that up to a few thousand or whatever you can afford might do the trick to win you the house.
Think Again About Contingencies
Finally, the last thing that you can do without offering to raise the price is to play with the contingencies. For example, many people that are planning to sell their current home will waive the contingency that says they must sell their house first before they will close on this one. Another example could be waving the right to inspect the property if you are paying cash.
Arm Yourself With The Right Mt. Pleasant Realtor
If you are planning to purchase a home in Mt. Pleasant or in the surronding Charleston area, the best thing you can do to prepare and protect yourself is to hire the right Mount Pleasant Realtor. I pride myself on not just helping my clients relocate to our sunny beachside escape but to truly advocate for them. I won’t just negotiate on your behalf and explain each step of the negotiation process, I will also tell you when I think it is time to walk away. At the end of the day that is what you and your family deserve; the truth. So if you are planning to buy a home in the Mt. Pleasant/Charleston area and you want a Realtor that will advocate for you in that way give me a call.
