What to Expect when Buying a Home in a

Competitive Market

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By now I'm sure you've heard it's a wild and crazy Spring Market. Wondering what that really means for you as a buyer? After writing and losing out on a home for our buyers the sellers agent, with the sellers permission shared these statistics.

• 90% of the offers were over asking.
• 100% of the offers were non contingent on selling. This means they don't have a home to sell prior to purchasing this one. This is important to sellers in this market because if anything happens to that sale it will impact theirs, in real estate it's often a domino effect. No home to sell means less risk to the sellers.
• 100% were flexible on closing. This means they left the close date up to the sellers. Which means most buyers have a back up plan as to where they're going to live if necessary to bridge the gap.
• 45% waived the inspection. This actually feels low to me, but this is just one example. We are seeing this more and more and although we realize this is a necessary tactic to win in this market we would like to go on record that we are not fans.
• 45% had some sort of appraisal gap guarantee. This means the buyers agree to make up some if not all of the difference between the offer price and the appraised price if there is a gap. Again this guarantees no delays or problems for the seller, no matter what the appraisal comes back at the sellers will get the agreed upon price.

If a deal is contingent on financing there is technically always a risk that it could fall through but putting an offer together with no contingencies and an appraisal gap offers the lowest risk of future issues to the sellers.

More and more agents are sharing information like this to help buyers gain a better understanding of what they're up against in this competitive market. In turn this helps us as Realtors educate our buyers for next time but it also helps buyers process the loss which gets increasingly harder with each rejection. Now more than ever it's important to have a trusted advisor on your side.

From all of us at Matt Engen Group thanks for reading.

If you have questions about buying or selling be sure to connect with us here.

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