5 Hacks For Home Buyers

This is a very difficult market for home buyers, but we’ve got a few tricks that may make your house hunt a little less competitive. Below find home buying tricks for a sellers’ market.

Despite the hot market, there are still some homes that are priced too high for the market. You may think, “Why would I look at overpriced homes?” The reason is that these homes will not sell as quickly. They go stale and don’t have the same feeding frenzy as properly priced homes. This may give you an opportunity to offer below the listing price with terms that are more favorable for you. Plus, you probably won’t find yourself in a bidding war with the price quickly escalating tens of thousands of dollars over asking. With a price reduced home, you could have more leverage.

Similar to price-reduced homes, the homes that have been on the market for a while will not have as much competition as new listings. Once a home is stale, many buyers assume it is overpriced or that there must be something wrong with it.

However, stale homes aren’t necessarily stinkers. There are a number of factors that could cause a home not to sell immediately. For instance, during the fall and winter months, homes may take a bit longer to sell due to seasonality. Homes listed at the peak of summer may find themselves still on market as the summer and house hunting season wanes.

If a deal falls through on a home, it will go back on market and get missed by buyers who are only looking at new listings.

Similarly, in a really strong sellers’ market, homes can be considered “stale” after only a few days. There may not even be anything wrong with a home, it just didn’t sell as soon as it hit the market.

Or, perhaps the seller didn’t update, declutter, or stage the home, causing other buyers to turn their noses up at it. Maybe the listing photos are bad, making buyers overlook it. A lot of buyers want move-in-ready homes, and they won’t even consider homes that aren’t beautifully staged and photographed.

If you can see past bad pics, clutter, dated decor, age, or disrepair, you may find a great home that others passed over due to lack of vision. Plus, looking at fixer-uppers gives you an opportunity to redo a home to your liking.

A coming soon home is not available for sale yet, so you can’t go see it or make an offer until it’s active. That means nobody else can either. This can give you time to research the school district and neighborhood, and prepare to see it as soon as it is actively for sale. If you can get a jump on other house hunters, you can give yourself an advantage.

Imagine a brand new home! Everything is fresh, clean, and on-trend. There’s nothing gross or old hiding in crevices. You may even have the opportunity to pick the floor plan or finishes that YOU want. Then, just move right in. No need to paint or replace carpeting.

While new construction brings its own set of challenges, many buyers are choosing new construction for the simple reason that there are few other choices. Buying a new build can help you bypass the frenzy and bidding wars of existing homes.

If you’re considering new construction, it’s absolutely imperative that you work with an experienced real estate agent who represents you (not the builder).

Browse New Homes For Sale in Central Ohio

This is not a market for tire-kicking or uncertainty. Serious buyers need to show they’re serious by being preapproved and having their finances and credit in order. Even then, you will probably lose out on a few homes. That’s normal and okay even in a balanced market. Buyers must be ready but must also be patient and persevere. Remember, the notion that someone can go see three homes and then easily buy “The One” only happens on HGTV, and that’s not real life.

We can help you stay on top of price reductions, stale homes, and coming soon homes with property alerts. Let us know what you’re searching for in a home, and we can set up alerts so that you automatically find out as soon as a home matching your criteria becomes available.