When looking to buy a home the process of getting yourself ready is pretty easy. Our best advice we give to all our new clients is to get approved. We have a few lenders, locally, that can do what is called fully underwritten approval. This letter is a step further than traditional pre-approval and takes your loan through underwriting fully so that you just need an accepted offer. Cash offers--cash seems to be king these days. Writing an offer without a financing contingency is huge! You can still get financing in the background, just not make the offer contingent on financing.
In this market it's all about preparation and mindset. Let’s talk about both…
When preparing yourself for this market, your agent/team needs to know exactly what is happening in every area you want to buy a home or build, etc. This knowledge will help you in the long run make the best decisions and have your best foot forward when competing for a home. Without that knowledge you won’t even be making offers that will be considered by the seller.
For mindset, there are a couple of key tips we share with all of our clients. Be ready by knowing exactly what you want. Know what you need. What you want, is like adding sprinkles or a cherry to an ice cream sundae....nice but you need the ice cream first:)
How many bedrooms?
How many bathrooms?
Square footage of the home?
Style of home you like?
1-3 locations you would like to live. Narrow the focus and know exactly where you want to be. Driving the area and driving your routes to work or school will help you know the drive times. Look for the grocery stores and convenience items you want to have. Walk the area and see what you like and don’t like about it.
Type of flooring?
New/Newer home or older home?
Move in ready or are you willing to remodel?
Also for mindset, you need to know what the market is doing and how you and your personality fit into it. Keys we share with our clients to be ready mentally are:
You are going to compete for every offer
You will likely pay 5%-10% over for every house
List price is a starting point. Market demands are pushing values up. Its not over paying, it's the market correcting itself due to supply and demand
Every $10,000 is only $30 a month added to your mortgage
Leaving out contingencies in your offer--like the inspection, appraisal and more
Close when the seller wants to close
Come with a unique way to stand out with your offer (pay moving costs, etc)
Be ready at any time to go see a home. Make sure you talk with your boss about leaving midday and expectations for work with knowing that you are buying a home. If you are not comfortable with that, we are happy to walk you and them through that conversation.
If you would like to learn more techniques and get the winning offer in this market, contact our team to consult with us!