Expert Advice: Crafting Your Winning Home Offer

Tips for Making Your Best Offer on a Home

Beyond the exhilarating highs of the ‘unicorn’ years in the housing market, we find ourselves in a more stabilized but still fiercely competitive present-day scenario. The limited supply of available homes continues to impact various regions. If you’re currently in the market for a home, rest assured that the intense bidding wars have subsided, but be prepared to encounter multiple-offer situations.

To enhance your chances of success when presenting an offer on a property, here are essential factors worth considering.

1. Rely on the Expertise of a Real Estate Professional

Enlist the assistance of a skilled real estate agent who can align with your objectives and provide valuable insights into the current housing market. These professionals possess in-depth knowledge of both the local and national trends, ensuring you are well-informed and empowered to proceed with certainty.

Furthermore, their experience allows them to understand successful strategies utilized by other buyers in your region, as well as discern what sellers desire in an offer. Although it may appear straightforward, tailoring your offer to meet a seller’s needs can significantly enhance its appeal and set it apart from the competition.

2. Get Pre-Approved for a Home Loan

Amid the present affordability challenges, having a well-defined budget becomes paramount. To gain a precise understanding of your borrowing capacity, it is advisable to collaborate with a lender and obtain pre-approval for a home loan.

This pre-approval process instills financial confidence as you gain a comprehensive insight into your numbers. Furthermore, it signals to sellers that you are a serious and committed buyer, granting you a competitive advantage, particularly in situations involving multiple offers.

3. Make a Fair Offer

Striving for the best possible deal when purchasing a home is completely understandable. Nevertheless, submitting an excessively low offer comes with certain risks. It’s essential to avoid making an offer so low that it gets immediately dismissed, leaving you uncertain about its chances of being considered seriously. 

Leveraging the expertise of your agent during this phase of the process will keep you competitive and ensure you arrive at a mutually fair price that satisfies both your interests and those of the seller.

4. Rely on Your Agent’s Expertise During Negotiations

In the peak of the ‘unicorn’ years in the housing market, certain buyers opted to forgo home inspections or neglected to request concessions from the seller, all to secure the winning bid on a home.

Thankfully, the current market landscape is distinct, offering you potentially more negotiating power than in the past. As you craft your offer, your reliable real estate advisor will guide you in strategizing which negotiation points to leverage and which ones you might want to hold firm on.