The pendulum has shifted overnight. Did you notice? Pasadena real estate and the surrounding neighborhoods went from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market.
If you are a Pasadena home buyer, you came face to face with reality of multiple offers on any reasonably priced home. Not just one or two buyers bidding against you, but a multitude of buyers that you are competing against. What to do? Remember Real Estate 101 – Get back to Basics!
Home Buying Tips:
- Get fully approved with a reputable lender! My clients are approved with not one lender, but three – Two direct lenders like Wells Fargo and Bank of America and a Mortgage Broker. Why?
- First of all, in today’s ever changing banking climate, a home buyer needs to have back up financing.
- Second, if you are writing a home purchase contract on a foreclosure (real estate owned – REO), the bank that is holding the property will only review your offer if you have a strong approval letter with their bank. Timing is of the essence. Buyers are not in a position to get approved with the foreclosure bank after they see the home because home buyers working with me are already approved and are writing that offer while others are just trying to get approved. The early bird gets the worm, right? You have to be prepared!
- Third, when we write an offer for purchasing a home, we can include several approval letters which position my buyer above others. Put yourself in a home seller’s position. Would you want to open escrow and take your Pasadena home off the market for a buyer that is approved with multiple lenders or an unknown entity?
- Write a letter to the seller. Explain why you love their house. Given a choice and comparable offers, most sellers will pick a home buyer that they feel will love their home as much as they do. A letter never hurts. It can only help.
- Terms DO matter! By terms, I mean, escrow period, loan and appraisal contingencies, inspection periods. You need to strategically position your offer over the others that are coming in. All real estate contracts are not equal. Real estate agents might have a California Association of Realtors template for a contract, but how it is completed positions you to secure or lose that home that you fell in love with.
- PRICE – please do your research with your Realtor. Look at the trends. How many homes sold in this area and how quickly did they sell? Do you see month to month change in the volume, pricing? Do the trends point to pricing going up? Are you seeing an influx of foreclosures? Discuss this with your Pasadena Realtor. The listing price of a home can be high or it can be low. Do not let it dictate your offer. It should only be a starting point. The actual data and anticipated trends should set the home price.
READ MORE:
Read 5 home buyer tips for getting more home for your $.
9 Stupid Things Buyers do to Mess Up their Home Purchase
Questions? Opinions? Would love to hear from you!
