Bidding wars might just become a thing of the past!
Competition among homebuyers has been dropping steadily over the last several months, and that’s great news for buyers who are seeking their dream home.
But even though the competition is cooling off, I don’t think you should enter the housing market expecting big bargains just yet. Let’s look at how the reduction in competing offers might affect your buying experience:
- Multiple Offers
Here’s the good news, you probably won’t have to fight to the death to win your dream home! I don’t think multiple offers will ever go away entirely, especially for in-demand properties, but you’ll probably be up against one or two competing offers instead of 10!
It still doesn’t guarantee you’ll have the winning bid, but it definitely improves your chances.
- Offering Above Asking Price
I think the days of offering $10k, $20K or even more over asking are finally behind us! I’m not saying you’ll NEVER have to go above asking price to secure your dream home (see above), but it won’t be status quo among home buyers either.
If you’ve found THE house, and you absolutely cannot live without it, and there are lots of other interested buyers, offering over asking may be your best strategy. But if you know you could find another property that would make you just as happy, avoid a costly bidding war and keep looking!
- Offering Below Asking Price
This one is still tricky. I worked with a couple recently that wanted to downsize after retirement. They found a beautiful home that fit their needs and decided to offer juuuuust under asking. 98% of the original asking price is a very strong offer, but in this case, it wasn’t strong enough.
Another buyer offered full price, and that 2% cost them the house.
Everybody wants to save money, but 2% won’t really save you much on your monthly mortgage payment! If it’s truly the perfect home for you, consider a full-price offer.
- Lowball Offers
A lowball offer is ALWAYS risky! A seller rarely agrees to a very low offer, and they often won’t even respond if it’s well below what they would consider a fair price.
The only time I recommend a lowball offer is if you really don’t care one way or the other about getting the house. If it’s an investment property, and you’d be perfectly happy to move on to another one, give it your best shot. But if you REALLY want this home, don’t lower your chances with a lowball offer.
If you’re ready to take on the housing market (with less competition!) I’d love to help. Shoot me an email at https://colleengodfreyrealestate.com/contact/ and tell me what your dream home looks like!
