As I have said often this year, housing inventory is very low and buyers are out in force creating multiple offer situations on many homes. What can you as a buyer do to help make sure the seller chooses your offer? Obviously, there are many factors and the ultimate decision is the seller’s but there are a few things you should know up front to make your offer more competitive and you will also want to discuss the best strategy with your realtor.

• Be prepared to offer asking price or even above if necessary.
• Know what price you can afford and don’t look at homes right at the top of your price range as it will not leave you room to negotiate, the days of the low offer and getting a good deal are rare right now.
• Make sure you are pre-approved before you start looking at homes, this process can take some time depending on your situation so make sure you have your loan officer lined up and ready to go with the pre-approval letter when you find the right home.
• The more money you can put down on the house the more stable you will look to the sellers. Buyers that can barely scrape together the money for a small earnest money check and down payment will have the sellers wondering if you can really qualify for a mortgage. Sellers love seeing cash, so the more the better.
• Be ready to adjust your closing date. If you want it to be 3 months out and the sellers want to move in 6 weeks, you need to be willing to adjust or they may take an offer that is flexible.
• Try to be a non-contingent buyer. Why would a seller choose to take a contingent offer if there are non-contingent ones on the table? The contingency is a big risk for the sellers.