Hello everyone:
Lots and Lots of buyers (and that means MANY), are sick and tired of "Bidding Wars". About half of the buyers I interview, tell me outright :"I dont want to have to compete for a house".
The secret to getting a house WITHOUT a bidding war is really simple: PATIENCE. Working with a patient agent and having some patience yourself is usually rewarded at some point. Here is how:
Many agents like to list a house at 10 to 20K below it's value. I know: it seems wrong, crooked, shifty.....you can put any number of labels on it, and I wont argue with you. But its a reality in todays market. The reason for deliberately underpricing a house is simple: It generates "Multiple Offers" (Bidding War), and in such, the best offers come to the forefront. Look at it this way: If YOU are the only person to make an offer on a house, I as your REALTOR® will advise you to ask for a Home Inspection, put as little money down as possible, and get a 3-day financing clause.
Now take that same house, and we are competing against, say, 5 other offers. Guess what happens: The people that CAN write unconditional offers will do so, just to win the bidding process. Gone is the Home Inspection, the financing clause, and out come the 20,000-dollar deposit cheques. Who wins? The home-owner, of course.
So how does patience help? Every once in a while, a home-seller, or his agent, decide for whatever reason, to slightly overprice a house. Buyers recognize this when it happens (if they are working with a knowledgable agent), and tend to refrain from putting in an offer right away. So the house may end up on the market for a few weeks, and then go thru a price-reduction.
But that initial pool of buyers have moved on, and sometimes the home-seller will find it tough to get them to come back. So this is where the patient buyer, with his patient REALTOR® come in.
So far this year, my buyers have managed to buy a house for UNDER asking price on 10 occasions. Thats roughtly 50% of my buyers have managed to avoid a bidding war.....pretty good odds, I would say.
Patience pays off.
So if you're looking for a house or condo, and either dont want to, or simply can not get involved in a bidding war, CALL ME. Together we will find you a nice house or condo.