I was googling a search online this morning and found an article I had written in November 2008 about buyers ‘just looking’ at homes for sale. I had written that the number of homes currently in the Brevard County real estate market was plentiful. Buyers could look at a house multiple times and take their time in making a decision on whether they would make an offer to purchase it.
Well, today, times have changed. Our inventory of homes available for sale is currently down. Today, buyers don’t have the luxury of looking at a home over the course of a couple of weeks. The good homes are gone in the first week… sometimes even in the first couple of days. We are seeing multiple offers on homes, at varying price points. And often, homes are selling for more than their advertised list price.
Sometimes buyers have to move quickly when they see a house they like. They can’t linger on the decision too long. It could mean the difference between getting the house and someone else getting it.
Some buyers are getting in bidding wars just to ‘win’ the house they want. But, be cautious, bidding wars can trigger emotions and make some buyers pay more for a home than they normally would or should. Remember, the house has to appraise, based on comparable homes that have recently sold, in the area. If it doesn’t appraise, the buyer and seller may have to agree to a compromise to make the transaction happen… the seller would reduce the price to the appraised value or the buyer would have to bring additional money to closing, above the contract price (if his lender allows). If they can’t come to terms, then both parties could be right back to square one. The house may have to go back on the market and it would have to appraise for the next buyer, unless a cash buyer with no contingencies wants it. And, the buyer would be out looking at houses for sale again in this market of dwindling inventory.
In the Brevard County Real estate market, for now, the days of ‘just looking’ at homes for sale are gone.
Read the article here, Just looking at homes for sale November 2008.
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