In a Seller's Market, Buyer's Must Move Fast

Literally and figuratively in a sellers market, buyers must move fast. In the market that we're in today where inventory is low and homes that are priced right are selling in less than a week, buyers must be ready to make an offer immediately. In order to be ready to make an immediate offer, here are the steps buyers must take.

1) Get Pre-Qualified- You can't submit an offer without a pre-qualification letter from a bank. Sometimes you can't even see a home without being pre-qualified.

2) Have your attorney lined up and ready to go- If you happened to remove a contingency from an offer such as an inspection contingency, let your attorney know upfront that you really want this house and in order to get it you had to waive the inspection contingency. I can't tell you how many times a lack of communication between buyers and attorneys cause deals to fall through.

3) Put as few contingencies as possible in your offer- If it's priced right and it's a great value, odds are there are going to be many competing offers. To make yours stand out from the bunch waive as many contingencies as possible and make the deal look simple and easy to the seller.

4) Have your agent submit the offer in person- This will allow the agent to get a read on how many offers are in on the property and where your offer stands in line.

5) Don't try and lowball the seller- If it's priced right, just go right after it and make a full-priced offer right off the bat. What we're seeing in this market is that if the home sells in the first 5 days or so, it will sell for full price. If it sells in 2-3 weeks that usually means more buyers got wind of the property and a bidding war broke out to cause the home to sell for above asking. Come in strong with a full-priced offer right from the get go to ensure you lock up a great deal and don't get into a bidding war.

As always if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at KyleKovats@Gmail.com

-Kyle Kovats, New Jersey Realtor