Get Your Offer Accepted

With more and more buyers seeking fewer and fewer houses there are a number of things a buyer can do to try and make sure his or her offer gets noticed in a competitive marketplace driven by lower inventory levels.

1. Minimize Contingency Periods. In a perfect world a seller would like no contingencies but in reality all sellers know a buyer has to proceed with due diligence. Whenever possible, however, try to minimize the amount of time you are requesting to make the inspections and make yourself look as attractive as possible by proposing beneficial terms. For example, if you are facing a financing requirement contingency, provide a pre-approval letter with your offer or try to make your down payment as large as possible so that your loan to value ratio might be lower than the competition.
2. Increase the Deposit. Standard deposits are usually 3% of the purchase price. By adding a larger deposit a seller may think you are more serious about buying the property.
3. Best Offer Clause. You can always insert a clause into the purchase offer that states you are willing to pay a certain dollar amount over and above the highest offer subject to a limit. This is becoming more and more popular as buyers face strong competition with multiple offers on certain properties and in this instance it may assure you a response from a seller .
4. No Lowball Offers. With inventory levels in many areas at very low levels there are numerous buyers looking at properties to purchase, so you may only get one bite at the apple in terms of getting your offer accepted by a seller. Rely on your real estate agent to provide you with comparable market and property data on which to base your offer as you may not get a second chance.
5. Get Pre Approved. Once you have made the decision to look for a home to purchase, review your credit report(s) to ensure accuracy, and take any short-term steps that may increase your credit score. This should be done 3- 4 months ahead of time so that the data has sufficient time to filter into the reporting agency data systems. Once completed, get a pre-approval letter from your bank stating what loan amount you can qualify for so that you are able to supply this at the time of making an offer. This may not guarantee you will get the property, but it may put you ahead of someone else also looking at the same home purchase. If a  seller is able to see you are able to afford a loan amount equal to or more than that in your offer, they are more likely to take the offer seriously.
6. Personalize the Offer. Write a letter to the seller telling them about yourself, including details such as why you like the house, its neighborhood, or because you may be relocating to the area for work reasons. Many sellers have an emotional link to their home and they want to feel the next owner will also take care of it after they have left.
7. Contact me at 805.886.9378 or Cristal@Montecito-Estate.com. My track record of winning purchase offers for my clients in Montecito, Hope Ranch and Santa Barbara speaks for itself.