Pulling the Trigger

In the current market, it pays to be ready to make the right decision when opportunity knocks.

Your realtor should be preparing you for the time when you find the right home. When it comes, be prepared to act.

It cannot be overstated, the advantage of being the first offer on the table. This is doubly true when the offers are of similar quality.

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Pricing Your Home

An appropriately timed price adjustment can be the best move to make in many situations. In a declining market you must be both aggressive and cautious.

If your price reduction does not "get under the market" then you will find additional reductions necessary as you "chase the market."

This is to be avoided as you will repeatedly lower the price of your home, only to find that the market also fell below your new asking price. If the adjustment is not big enough, the cycle will repeat! By the time you reduce again, you may find no opportunities to sell because the market has declined again at a similar or greater pace.

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Making a Good Offer

A good offer is one that achieves the goal of getting the best house at a great price. That means paying at or below market value for a property. Your realtor will be able to assist you in determining value.

The market value is simply what the average buyer would be willing to pay for the house given the current market conditions. This is usually calculated/estimated by looking at comparable homes.

The best way to find a home's value is to know the market by seeing lots of similar homes in the areas you are most interested. This can be accomplished by looking at homes your agent emails to you and then selecting the most attractive homes to tour.

Many homes are priced right for the market. Those are the ones you should be offering on. However, if the home is priced for the market, a low-ball offer (less than 10% below asking price) is almost a complete waste of time. If the house is that far overpriced, you should be focusing on better priced homes to maximize the potential for success in the market.

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Make Offers Early

The current buyer's market heavily favors non-contingent buyers who can close in a hurry.

With no home to sell, the ideal buyer can move forward quickly and put "pressure" on the seller to accommodate the terms offered.

One caution is that waiting for the price to drop on the home you have your eye on tends to backfire. I have seen it happen more times than not. Once the home gets to the market price. Everyone jumps.

A multiple offer situation does take much of the leverage from the buyer. This has put a premium on speed and accuracy of market information.

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Getting Pre-Approved

One of the very first steps towards home ownership is getting pre-approved. This is where you set the groundwork for a successful purchase.

Start by getting a recommendation from friends, family, or preferably, your realtor. He or she will know the best places to get financing and who is working hardest to help their clients.

The process is free and enlightening. Not only are your ready to find a house, you also have the comfort of know exactly how much you want to spend to stay well within a comfortable budget.

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Competing in a Multiple Offer Situation

Many buyers are feeling frustrated by losing in multiple offers. The thing to remember is that a multiple offer situation changes the balance of power from the buyer to the seller. The rules of the current "buyer's market" no longer apply.

The way to win a multiple offer is by making your best offer. The offer where you are comfortable getting the home at your price and also comfortable losing the home to someone else who is willing to pay a little bit more. Other important ways to make your offer more attractive to the seller are:
- make the closing non-contingent
- have the closing date as early as possible
- make your earnest money as large as you can
- keep extra requests and conditions to a minimum.

If you do those things you greatly increase your chances of success in a multiple offer. Most importantly, you will be confident that you did everything you could to buy the home at the price and terms that made sense for you and your family.

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Getting the Best Price

When negotiating with a seller, buyers seem to be making low offers. That is the reality of the market. However, a low ball offer can end up hurting a buyer more than helping. Why? Because selling your home is an emotional thing. Those who have done it know exactly what I am talking about.

My advise for people looking to negotiate the purchase of real estate is to offer a price high enough so that you are not offending the seller. This is less of a concern when dealing with a bank, especially when there are no other offers on the table.

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