How to Make a Strong Offer When Your Dream Home Hits the Market

You’ve spent months deciding what type of home will be best for your family. You’ve researched the best schools and areas, narrowing it down to where will be a good fit. You, your real estate agent, and your family members watch listings like a hawk. And finally! Your dream home hits the market. 

Quick! What should you do to make sure your offer wins amongst other potential buyers looking to purchase the same property?

Before you find your dream home 

1. Get pre-approved for a mortgage. Why is this such an important step? Getting pre-approved is crucial for two reasons: it verifies your price range to know what homes you can afford, and it shows home sellers that you are serious. 
2. Check listings every day. “Today’s housing markets are marked by a decade of underbuilding, with many buyers seeking a shrinking inventory of homes for sale,” said George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com. “Declining supply leads to a much faster selling time. In January of this year, homes spent only 61 days on the market, the shortest time of any pre-pandemic year’s fastest month. In many cases, a new listing may get offers within just a day or two of hitting the market.”

After you find your dream home 

1. Put more than 20% down. “In the competitive environment of the past couple of years, buyers have leveraged several options to stand out and close successfully on a home. One of those strategies was to signal a stronger financial position, and therefore a higher likelihood of closing, by fronting larger down payment amounts,” Ratiu said. “The move was intended to let a seller know that the buyer had a more competitive financial position and ability to successfully secure a mortgage.”
2. Make an offer quickly. When you decide that you want to purchase a specific home and work with a real estate agent, make sure to put an offer in as soon as possible. 
3. Offer above asking price. You need to make sure that your offer is competitive, especially when your dream home likely is receiving many requests. Your offer needs to stand out. Before you stress too much, you may only need to offer between $2 or $3,000 above the asking price to get the seller’s attention. 
4. Make an all-cash offer. If you are financially able to do so, providing an all-cash offer will help you stand out from the other offers. And the simplicity of an all-cash offer may be necessary to the seller, which will increase your chances of your offer being accepted.
5. Find out what’s essential to the seller. When working with a local real estate agent, they can contact the seller’s agent to find out what is important to the seller. The seller may need to move quickly and doesn’t want to deal with repairs. You will increase the likelihood of your offer being accepted if you know what’s important to the seller and address it in your bid.
6. Make sure your offer is complete. Not only could an incomplete offer cause delays, which could keep you from your dream home, but it also could be tossed out altogether. 

Call today and let me help make the process of buying your dream home simple and stress-free!