Discover Denver Luxury Homes & Real Estate - Kelli Lanphere - Excellence in Real Estate Since 1984 -

Trying to buy a home in a seller's market is a little like not having a date on Saturday night' Everyone else seems to be having all the fun but you!

Since there are more buyers than homes for sale in a seller's market, homes usually sell very quickly and for higher prices than they would normally bring. Watching homes that you are interested in "sell out from under you" (and at outrageous prices) can be frustrating and discouraging. You continue to drive through your favorite neighborhoods, but at some point, you begin to lose hope that you'll ever get there first and/or offer the right price.

So, what can you do? If you're in a seller's market and hope to buy a home, here are a few tips that may help you move the odds back in your favor:

Be prepared to buy.

Get your finances in order! Clean up your credit and talk with a mortgage broker or direct lender about becoming pre-qualified for a loan. Better yet, get pre-approved! Knowing how much you have to spend can narrow your search and make home hunting a little more fun. You will also be in a much better position to act quickly should the right home come your way.

Pick an area where you want to live.

Decide on the lifestyle that you want and also what kind of home you want. Think about how you would like to live your daily life. Picture your activities and how you want to spend your time. The right type of home will come to you. Do you like to entertain large groups of friends? If so, then you may want a home with a family room. Do you like to travel and don't care much for maintenance? Then a townhome or something in a gated community may be more your style. Do you love antiques or restoring things? How about looking at a historic property or for an older home? Focusing on your greatest wants (& needs) will help you and your real estate Broker find the best home for you.

Hire a Real Estate Broker.

A seller's market isn't the time to look for a home on your own. You need help - someone who has an ear to the ground in areas where you don't. That person is a Real Estate Broker. Find a Broker who specializes in the neighborhood in which you want to live and/or the type of home that you want to buy. Brokers have niches - usually in a particular area of town! Ask (or drive) around and find out who the specialist is in the neighborhood that you want to buy. Visit with friends, neighbors etc. - tell them what you are looking for and also what kind of person with whom you wish to work. Then, interview with a few select Brokers to identify the one who is most in tune with your needs.

Be willing to sign an "Exclusive Buyer Agency" agreement.

A Broker who has a written agreement to represent you is a lot more likely to call you (rather than an uncommitted buyer) with information on a new or upcoming listing. Hire a hard working, knowledgeable and experienced Broker to represent your best interests as a "Buyer Broker"'They'll make certain to keep you informed so you don't miss that perfect home when it hits the market!

Use the Internet and other contacts to your advantage.

Many home search sites offer email notification of new listings, including Realtor.com and HomeAdvisor.com. Don't forget the FSBO (for sale by owner) sites too. Also, tell everyone you know that you are looking for a home and ask him or her to ask their neighbors if they know of anyone who is selling. Put a note on the bulletin board at church, at the office and at the day care center. You may get lucky and come across a home before it hits the market.

Make sure your Broker is networking with other Brokers.

It is against the code of ethics for a Realtor to "hoard" a home once the seller has signed a listing agreement. The Broker has 24 hours to get the property listing into the MLS unless otherwise instructed by the seller. Additionally, in a seller's market, many homes change hands without ever making it into the MLS database because of the unique networking abilities of the Brokers. Make sure that the Broker you select is one that other Brokers will call when they have a new listing.

Don't use multiple Brokers.

The worst thing you can do in a seller's market is to attempt to "beat the system" by asking several Brokers to find you a home. They will quickly understand that they are all working for the same buyer and, chances are, many will choose not to contact you. More importantly, if a Broker has entered into an Exclusive Buyer Agency agreement with their Buyer(s), they must - by law - represent their client's best interest in the purchase of a new home before contacting other prospective buyers.

Make Your Offer the Most Attractive.

If you have the opportunity to bid on a home with multiple offers, make sure that yours is the most attractive offer! Let the seller know how much you like their home, how prepared you are to buy it and that you will make the transaction easy to close. Keep contingencies to a minimum - the seller will assume that any contingency is a loophole to get out of the contract. In a seller's market, the seller will have no reason to allow you to tie up the home so, make it clear that you are ready & willing to move toward closing. Lastly, if competing offers are equal and it simply comes down to a matter of personalities, the seller will generally want to convey the home to someone who they believe "appreciates" it and who will pose the least amount of trouble throughout the sale.

Have a "Tie-breaker" ready.

Lastly, if the bidding is close, make sure that you can offer a "tie-breaker" to help move the seller's decision in your direction. For example, offer to pay some of the seller's closing costs and be willing to accommodate as many of the seller's wishes as possible including move-out dates and closing dates. For more information on how to buy a home in a seller's market, please feel free to contact me -or- your own professional real estate broker.

Kelli Lanphere is a Broker Associate/Co-owner of Re/Max of Cherry Creek, Inc. She is also the contributing writer for the real estate section of The Cherry Creek Times and is recognized as a proven expert in residential real estate. The Cherry Creek Times is a monthly community newspaper serving our local neighborhoods (Cherry Creek, Denver Country Club, Hilltop-Crestmoor,Belcaro, Bonnie Brae,Washington Park, Congress Park, Park Hill, Mayfair & Lowry).

* * * Kelli Lanphere - Selling Denver's Top Neighborhoods Since 1984 * * *

Buying in a Seller's Market