How to spruce up your offer to buy a home

Let’s say if you are in the market to be buying a home in the current environment here some things you might want to be aware of with regards to acting on a house that’s within your budget…

Let’s say as a result the house you could afford is say $650k. For whatever reason, you and your spouse are conflicted one of you wants to proceed the other doesn’t. So you let the house sit you don’t make an offer and you sleep on it for a day or two. It’s completely realistic that that same house literally the next day or even the same day could be in contract with another buyer. This is not the market to take the sleep on its approach with regards to buying a home. If you like the house, you can afford the house, you know the area and the neighborhood, and the location then by all means pulls the trigger.

Here is why if your expectations for buying a home are such that it’s very specific. So specific you’re looking for a certain type of house with an exact type of property which as result only comes up maybe 1 or 2 times a year. You can expect if you don’t act quickly the house might have multiple offers you will up spinning your wheels and potentially losing out on house because of your failure to not act when your real estate agent recommended that you do so based on your needs, desires, and goals.

It is by any means a pressure tactic but, motivation to make an offer on a house you can afford when it pops up should be paramount. This is the market where you need to base it basically identify an opportunity, evaluate the opportunity and then act on the opportunity. It is not a market to try to offer less on the house, try to negotiate lower, or attempt to extract out seller concessions that might not be available especially if you’re in a competitive area. To be successful you need to be all in, this means having your down payment together and closing costs together, and be willing to pay the list price for the house or potentially even over the list price. This holds true especially if your real estate agent tells you that the house is underpriced. What a lot of listing agents do is they will list a house very low to induce multiple offers so it’s a false reality of what the house will actually sell for. Add reality of other sales in the area more than likely in most times circumstances the house will appraise even if you big “over-asking.”

Keep this in mind if you’re deciding whether or not to act on the house. You still get your loan contingency, you still have an inspection contingency, and just because you sign a real estate purchase contract does not automatically mean you’re signing your life away. Take the advice of your real estate agent and your lender who are working on your behalf to help you in your family be successful in your home buying endeavor. Trust these people as your finances, future and the ultimate road to wealth creation all depend on it.

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RELATED MORTGAGE ADVICE FROM SCOTT SHELDON

Notes: Roxanne Durney has been set up for a cash-out refinance on a property that is currently owned free and clear. Income has been verified with a 2024 pay stub; however, the 2023 W-2 is still needed. Homeowners insurance is currently estimated at $200/month and will need to be verified with an insurance document. The file is set up with a $250,000 loan amount at 56% LTV. DTI is 40%. I am holding off on running DU until tomorrow morning to avoid triggering disclosures, pending confirmation of a time for Scott to connect with the borrower.

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