Do You Know What Money Looks Like When on Fire? This Housing Market is Crazy!

You may think if you throw enough money at something or someone eventually you’d get what you want, right? Well the answer is actually usually not. Especially in this housing market, it takes more than throwing money around to get a winning bid.

Here’s the 3 things I tell my clients when they are neck to neck in a bidding war.

1. While money has a good deal of power, in the real estate business if you continually keep throwing out big numbers you might get lucky and get what you want. But, often you end up WAY over spending. You gotta know how to bargain. And the first step in bargaining is offering the bare minimum more than you need to. How you do that is pay more than the highest verified offer.
2. Don’t underestimate the power of written letters. Maybe you have heard of writing personal letters to a seller before. But did you know that magic number is actually two letters. Yes, one letter should come from your agent summarizing why you are financially reliable and the right choice. The other letter should come from you, and while it should follow a formula it should not be some stock letter. Be sure to say how much you like the house, compliment them and something in the home so they know how much you care, and follow up with a personal story that you believe may have impact.
3. Remove the worry about loan contingency. You don’t want to be losing your loan late in the game, in order to look serious to the buyers, put it out there that you will give up your earnest money if anything happens. Another option is to not wait for the appraised value of the home, in this market many homes are getting more than their appraised value anyways, so removing that contingency can let the sellers know you are pedal to the metal when it comes to owning this home.

Bottom line is, it’s all about knowing the details and knowing how to do the paperwork correctly. If you're in the market for buying or selling your home let's talk!