One way to Eliminate the competition when working with buyers. This has been a very severe sellers market for the past 12 months in the Denver area. Homes are flying off the shelves and buyers are sometimes competing with multiple offers and paying over asking price for homes, great for sellers, not so much for buyers!
I have worked with several buyers over the years and I have shown plenty of homes, however I have not seen anything like what has happened in our market, even agents with 30+ years experience are saying this is the strongest sellers market they have ever seen.
When the market was a buyers market (just a very short time ago) it was not unheard of to show several homes because the buyers could be very particular and usually find exactly what they wanted and have no competition. I like to pride myself on really reading my buyers and finding them the perfect home, not just settling for a home because they are in need. This last year it seems a lot of buyers have been "settling" for any old house because they are tired of looking or tired of getting beaten out on their offer.
Well here is a way to work with buyers that I have tried and it works very well. Many Listing agents will target expired listings for their "inventory". However these expired listings can actually be the best homes for you to take your buyers too.
I recently closed on a house for a young couple that were having a difficult time finding anything in their price range, and when they would it either needed a ton of work or the home was seriously overbid, knocking them back out of the competition. I decided to go through the expired listings, not the recently expired lsitings, but those that were on the market when it was a severe buyers market. For one reason or another, the homes did not sell.
I selected 73 homes in one zip code that all matched my buyers needs. I went through them with my buyers and asked them to select the top 10 homes they would like me to pursue. My buyers chose only 4 homes. I thought we would need more than that but figured it was a start and we should see what happens.
Scott and Kathleen Love your Home!
Home number one: The owner answered the door and I presented not only a very nice photo and story of the young couple looking to buy, I also told them that these buyers were qualified and willing to make an offer right then and there if the sellers were still interested. As flattered as the first seller was, he said that his job transfer a few years ago had changed and they were fortunate to not have to move.
Home number two: I knocked with the male buyer in tow and the lady that answered was absolutely thrilled to have him take a look, she said "I had planned on putting it back on the market in the spring, but this sure would save me a lot of work"
We continued to the other two homes just to see what they were like, the third home resulted in no one being home and the 4th home the owner came out saying "whatever your selling, I am not interested" Oh well, his loss, I could have been selling his home.
W called the second home owner back, put together the offer and closed a month later. There were no competing offers, the buyer and seller were very accommodating with one another, there was no pressure for the seller to clean up the house, or prep for hundreds of showings.
I highly recommend this approach if you are in a very competitive sellers market.
As an agent, are you trying everything to get your buyers the home of their dreams?
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