Are you ready to buy?

You’ve saved your down payment.  You’ve saved a little extra to stretch You’ve shined your credit score. You’ve gone online and found your dream home. You’ve chosen your Realtor®.   You are ready to buy a house.  Are you?

This housing market is not for the faint of heart.  You are facing a home sale market in which there are literally a hundred potential buyers for every home that comes on the market.  In the challenging market you face in Central Ohio it is not enough to be financially ready to buy a house. You must be temperamentally ready.  What does that mean?

Here are a few scenarios for which you must be ready to become a homeowner in a market where demand far exceeds supply.

• Did it take you three weeks to buy a car? This may not be the market for you. This market demands quick decisions. Most homes will go into contract within hours of going on the market.  You may see a home at 10:00 a.m. and the listing agent gives a deadline of 6:00 p.m. to have offers in.  Unlike a ‘normal’ market there is rarely time for a second walk-through or second thoughts.

• Are you able to handle the crowds? You likely will not have a ‘private showing’ on the home.  Depending on the demand for the home, the driveway may look like a parking lot, the home may be filled with other interested parties and the line out the door will look like a Honeybaked Ham® store on the day before Thanksgiving.  Frustrating? Absolutely. Reality? Absolutely.

• Are you able to break all the rules you have learned about buying a home? Negotiate down off of list price? Won’t happen.  When a home is priced well negotiating starts at list price and goes up.  Home inspection important to you?  You may have the right to a home inspection (the more competitive Buyers waive that right) but you likely won’t have the right to ask for repairs.  Unwilling to pay over appraised value?  The Buyers who win waive the appraisal value and bring cash to closing.

• Are you willing to compete for a home? In the first week a home is on the market it is not if you will compete with other potential homeowners, but how many you will compete with. If the home is overpriced, it will still be on the market in a week, and you may have an opportunity to purchase without competing with other.

• Are you willing to move twice to get a home? You own a home.  You need to sell it to buy your next home.   This is a market where the competition demands a non-contingent offer.  The homeowner on the home you want does not have to take on the risk and time of you selling a home, and they generally won’t. You will need to move twice e., sell, move into temporary housing, and then purchase a home.

• Are you comfortable with the Seller living in your home after closing? In this market, you’ll get the keys when the Seller is ready to give you possession.  If the Seller needs the home for up to 60 days after closing, the winning Buyers will give it to them.  At no cost.

While there are exceptions to these realities, they are realities, and they are typical.  If this is not the home buying experience you are prepared for, you might be more comfortable to trade the Seller’s market (less money and perks’ on the sale end) for a more favorable Buyer’s market.

This Blog is written by Kathy Chiero, Lead Agent for The Kathy Chiero Group.  Thinking of Buying?  Get a copy of my free book “Ten Ways to Win in a Challenging Market” Visit us a OurOhioHome.com  Ready to sell? Contact us for a no-obligation analysis of the value of your home.