A hard part about being a buyer in the seller’s market a few years ago was how quickly you had to make a decision on a property. When a new property came on the market you often had to make a decision to buy very quickly or it would be sold to another buyer.
Now that it is a buyer’s market it’s often harder for buyers to make a decision because there are so many options. There isn’t a sense of urgency, and buyers often have the false sense that a property will be waiting for them whenever they make a decision…an easier assumption to make when you see properties in disrepair and newspapers piling up on the front step.
The truth is, every property has a buyer and you never know when that buyer is going to come along…it could be in three months, but it could also be in three hours. Even in current market conditions, properties can sell quickly and there can be multiple offers.
Yesterday I had clients close on an outstanding property that had multiple offers. About the same time we negotiated that sale, other clients were part of multiple offers on a foreclosed property that was in poor condition.
Both properties sold for more than list price, and both sold with multiple offers in a matter of days. The reason? Both were priced right for their location and condition.
When you find a property you like, ask yourself how you would feel if you decided to make an offer on it next week and it were gone. If you find yourself dreaming about a property and visualize yourself living there, thinking about how you would fix it up and use the space, it’s probably time to make an offer.
In a future post I’ll talk about what goes into making an offer.
