Buyers, especially first time home buyers, seem to have a fear of making an offer on a home that they really like as they have this fear of buying the wrong house, maybe something better will come along.  Through the home search buyers learn that new properties matching their search criteria come on the market every day, so how can buyers be sure that they have chosen the best home out there for their needs?

For one thing, most buyers have looked at many homes before they actually write up a purchase agreement. Buyers have learned that often what looks like the perfect house online is everything but perfect when they see it in person.  Of the 13,000 or so homes currently on the market in the Twin Cities, you have chosen to look at a very small percentage of them that matched your search criteria and of those you have normally only chosen one to write a purchase agreement on. This alone should be a sign that homes that are right for you are few and far between.

What about missing out on a good deal? It is a fact that distressed homes are rapidly declining in the market and with the low home inventory, prices are on the rise for all homes.  Even if you find a great home at a great price you will most likely end up in a multiple offer situation and would your offer be good enough to win the bidding war?

Better homes will always come on the market, meaning that there is no end to the problem of a possibly better home being out there. You need to make sure that the home you are making the offer on is a home that fits your criteria for the most part and that you will be happy living in. A home in not a life sentence! You can always choose to sell and move down the road if the situation is right.

One question most buyers that have written a purchase agreement are asking these days is what is the offer response time from the sellers.  The past few years when buyers were scarce, sellers were responding rather quickly if they got an offer but these days with so many buyers and showings sellers are not so apt to rush into anything.  Normally the seller will get the buyers a response in about 24 hrs.  Right now if there are a lot of showings they may hold off to see if they can get multiple offers.  You can put a response time on your offer, but in that case you need to be ready to say forget that house and move on if the sellers choose not to respond in your time frame.

If you are looking at bank owned properties they often will wait days if not up to a week to see how many offers they can get. Generally at some point they will ask for the highest and best offer and then make a decision.

It may not seem fair to the buyers, but the sellers are in control right now with so many buyers and so few homes for sale. The best plan is to make a good solid first offer, be flexible if there are multiple offers, exercise patience and consult with your Realtor for your best plan of action.

If you are thinking about putting your home up for sale I have a few seller tips for you to follow to allow for a much smoother selling process.  For some the seller tips may seem obvious but for others maybe not.

• Choose the right Realtor – choose a Realtor that has experience, knows the market and that you can work with
• Understand the process – make sure your Realtor explains the entire selling process to you so there are no surprises and you know what to expect at every point of the process
• Prepare your home – get your home in shape before you list it and if your Realtor has suggestions you may want to follow them as they have the experience, you do not see your home the same way an outside party may see it
• Market your home – make sure your Realtor is marketing your home online, with signs, open houses, mailings, etc., an ad in the local paper is not enough these days, most buyers are searching online
• Set a realistic price – the first few weeks that your home is listed are critical so you want to be priced where the market it at, sure you can always lower your price later but you lose those first weeks where the most people will view your home
• Be ready to negotiate – most buyers will want to negotiate with you on price, closing costs, etc., be ready to negotiate with them and know that most buyers are not going to just offer you what you are asking
• Where are you headed – don’t forget to have your move planned, your home may sell in a few days or a few months, but you need to be ready to move on when you have an accepted purchase agreement, so plan ahead

By following these seller tips you should have a much easier time selling your home!