How to Buy A Home In A Tight Real Estate Market

The real estate market in most parts of the nation can shift back and forth between a buyer's market to a sellers market. When it’s a sellers market, multiple offers and surging prices may be good for sellers. But what if you want to buy and are trying to find a home when there's hardly anything for sale? It can be frustrating. Here are some things you can do to increase your odds of finding and buying the right home of your choice.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• List Of Your Priorities
• Classified Ads
• Experienced Real Estate Agent
• Reliable Loan Officer
• Home Inspector

1. 
    
   Loan Officer

   1. Get your finances in order.
   When the right home comes on the market you want to be prepared to act immediately and make a strong offer. You must have all the financial work completed before you make that offer. That means making an appointment with a lender of your choice and get yourself pre-approved for a loan.

2. 
    
   Real Estate Agent

   2. Commit to an experienced real estate agent.
   Find a real estate professional who knows the area where you want to buy. You need to work with someone who will call you about new listings before the public learns about them. Many unlisted properties sell today because the agent brings buyers and sellers together before they hit the MLS.

3. 3. Know what your priorities are in a home.
   List everything you want and need in a home and put the most important features at the top of the list. Seeing a number of homes will help you determine your housing requirements. You may not find everything you expect or all the features you want in the properties, so you may have to compromise on some of the features you are looking for. You will find that there are no perfect homes.

4. 
    
   Neighborhood

   4. Review your priorities from time to time.
   If you don’t find the right home within 30 days you will want to look at your priority list again. You may have to come up with some new ideas. For example, you had looked at a home you liked but it needed to be painted or needed carpet, you may want to look at it again. Are you willing to make some cosmetic improvements that will increase your odds of buying a home in this tight market? If you look at homes in a different location just a few miles out of the area you had wanted, it may open up a whole new selection of homes for sale which will be in your price range.

5. 
    
   For Sale By Owner

   5. Research expired listings and "for sale by owners.
   Have your real estate agent check on expired listings to see if there’s one that might work for you. Once in awhile a seller wants to take a break and take their home off the market for a while. That does not always mean they don’t want to sell it. They may have taken it off the market because of a holiday coming up or the weather has been really bad or for personnel reasons. Also, drive through the neighborhoods you like and look at the “for sale by owner” or find them in the classified ads. Sometimes there is a “for sale by owner” which the owner will allow a one time showing on their home, so your agent may be able to set up an appointment so you can see it. It may be just what you were looking for.

6. 
    
   Home Inspector

   6. When you find the right home, act quickly.
   A property that is priced well in good condition will draw many interested buyers the first few days on the market. If you find the right home you’ll want to put an offer on it right away and get it presented ASAP. You have already obtained your pre-approval letter and have a home inspector ready to go. Those who snooze, loose. If you don’t put the offer in right away you may loose it to another buyer.

7. 
    
   Getting The Keys

   7. Make your offer as clean as possible.
   When you write your offer to purchase, include as few contingencies as possible. If you own another home and need to sell it, list it and get it sold right away. Sellers do not want a contingency of selling a home in today’s fast-paced market. Make the contingency time periods as short as you can. Interview a few home inspectors and decide whom you want to use. Then, you'll be ready to have the home inspector go in within a few days of acceptance.

Tips & Warnings

• Have a flexible search criterion
• Be prepared to compromise
• Hire a good experienced real estate agent
• Stay within the price range you are pre-qualified for.
• Do not buy a home that does not meet most of your needs.
• If you are planning on selling the house in a few years make sure it will be easy to resell it.

[llparker]

on 8/6/2009 great tips

[kittykat3]

on 3/30/2009 These are great tips. 5* and recommended.

[dcole]

on 3/30/2009 These are very good tips for buying a home in a tight real estate market, in fact in almost any market. 5*