The best month to buy a home is January. Why? There are less buyers out looking because of the weather. Sellers are more likely to sell because buyers are scarce and they often receive all their holiday bills in January, and they obviously need to sell or they wouldn’t normally list their home in January.

The best time to sell a home is in the spring. Why? The weather improves, the buyers come out of the woodwork! 60% of all moves occur in the summer which means the buyers wrote their purchase agreement in the spring.

The best day to list your home is a Thursday. Why? Because it gives buyers time to see it come online and then schedule showings over the weekend.

The first Tuesday of the month is the best day to make an offer on a home. Why? The seller has just paid the mortgage on the home and if he really wants to move he is not happy about paying for a home he no longer wants, and if no one has made an offer from the weekend showings by Tuesday, a bit of panic will set in.

Pricing your home – don’t end it in a zero. Why? Studies show that people perceive an exact price, such as $179,327, as lower than rounded ones, such as $170,000, even when the rounded prices are actually lower. Real-life sales show that one zero at the end of an asking price lowers the final sale price by .72% and two zeros lower it by .73%. That may not sound like much, but it can add up to thousands of dollars.

Is cash king in every multiple offer situation? With the new housing market, limited inventory and bountiful buyers, multiple offers have become commonplace and it seems that there is always someone with cash that takes the prize.  Especially for first time home buyers these cash buyers are making the process a bit more difficult.  Sellers want to see a solid offer so they know that their home will close as planned and nothing will “fall apart” to ruin the deal, which makes sellers a bit partial towards cash offers.

If you are submitting a financed offer there are some things you can do to make your offer more attractive to the sellers and maybe beat out the cash offer.  Make sure you are offering your highest and best offer, put as much as you can in the down payment on your loan, this shows the sellers that you have some money and are serious. Submit a nice earnest money check with the offer which also shows you are serious about buying the house. Offer the sellers ample proof that you will qualify for the mortgage and offer to give them a financing approval by a certain date prior to closing.

Cash is a tough competitor, but it can also be beat. Talk to your Realtor to find out your best strategy if you are in a multiple offer situation and are competing against cash buyers.

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.