Are you searching for your next home?
Get expert tips from Nancy Braun, the top real estate agent in Charlotte NC, as she talks about the keys to buying a home in a seller’s market, on Charlotte Today at WCNC NBC.
Buying a home in a seller’s market can be a bit more challenging. According to Nancy, a buyer has to move fast and be prepared to write a strong, flexible offer. Expect that there will be multiple offers, cash offers, and bidding wars.
In this type of market, there are more buyers than there are homes available for sale. There will be fierce competition. So, how in the world do you set yourself apart from the rest of the buyers?
Here is where Nancy’s expertise can help you!
She highlights the importance of knowing what the sellers are looking for and finding out as much as you can about the sellers’ situation. With the information, she offers her clients advice regarding the best way to approach the seller, and how and what to offer.
She also mentions the necessity of writing a personal letter and how it can be a deciding factor for sellers. The “love letter” gives the buyers the opportunity to connect with the sellers on a personal level, and explain why they want the home and why their offer should be chosen.
For more information on buying and selling Charlotte NC real estate, call Nancy Braun at (704) 997-3794.
Colleen: If you're thinking about buying a home soon, it's time to get your game on.
Eugene: It's a seller's market and that means there’s some tough competition for buyers who are interested in the same property.
Colleen: Yeah. Nancy Braun with Showcase Realty can help. So Nancy, it really is a seller's market. What does that mean for buyers?
Nancy: It's very challenging for some buyers especially anything under $500,000. There's such a demand.
So the buyers have to be very, very quick to look at homes and be prepared to write an offer right when they're at the house.
Colleen: Because a lot of times multiple buyers will be putting an offer on the same home.
Nancy: That's right. Any of the best houses especially some of the homes that are close in into the Charlotte region are going to sell very, very quickly and there's gonna be multiple offers.
Colleen: Now, you really help your clients, your buyers stand out. Talk about how you do that.
Nancy: So one of the things I do right when I'm at the house, showing the house, I call the agent directly and then I ask the agent, “Well, tell me what the sellers are looking for?” It’s not always price. It could be timing. It could be that they love that stove. It could be that they want time to move after closing and rent back from the buyer. And I want to know those criteria because those might appeal to that seller more than just writing a traditional offer.
Colleen: So you like to put together a good claim - that solid offer. Talk more about what that looks like.
Nancy: So, yes. We always use that term, “clean” but it includes not asking for a lot of things. So if you might ask for that patio furniture in the backyard, well that might be his grandmother's, you know. You don't know what it's important to that seller. So that phone call really kind of narrows down what are permissible for me to include in the offer and what isn't. But as simple as how many days for due diligence might alter my offer to take second place over another offer. So I want to have a short period of time for us to do our investigation as far as making sure that they know that we can move forward. I want to make sure that we can put up as much due diligence fee and earnest money deposit as my clients can afford. If they can do cash, cash always wins. Or if they can't do cash, then I want an actual approval letter from the lender. I don't want some weak pre-qualification letter. I want a letter actually written specifically for this property from my lender that the seller can look at and go, “Wow! This is a really solid buyer.”
Colleen: So you actually have the buyer write a letter about why someone likes the house so much, maybe even include a family photo?
Nancy: Absolutely. Absolutely. That really makes a big difference. I recently sold my parents house and I can tell you that the first buyer that came through wrote me one of those letters. And I could feel, you know, this is a home I grew up in. My mom would love this home. It really meant a lot to me. So, I know that that personal letter from a buyer is critical in a multiple offer situation especially, if they're going to be owner-occupants. I was at an appointment last night and they were talking about them selling another home that they had and they were disappointed that the For Rent sign went up in the yard right after they sold it. And they internalized and personalized the home. So those letters - we in the industry call them love letters - really could be effective. So when I sit down and meet with a buyer, initially, I'll say, start writing the letter. We'll eventually get the particulars about the home that might really be relevant to this specific home we find but you can start getting pictures of your dogs, your kids, and reasons why you moved to Charlotte or some hot buttons that someone might, you know, be interested in hearing.
Colleen: And quickly, I should mention too, you don't just do this via email. You put it all together in a nice little packet to give to the other agent.
Nancy: Yes, right. So traditionally most people just email the offer to purchase. Whereas, our multiple offer package could be really quite thick and it's going to have letters from the lender and letters from the buyers. It's going to have the specific disclosures included. It's going to have more documents documenting that they have the earnest money copies of their checks that they're submitting. It's a very, very thorough package including a table of contents. So always I think of seller includes if it's a husband and wife you've got one that's more detailed, number focused. One's more emotionally focused. So obviously the letters are more emotionally driven but then the table of contents and all the documentation appeals to the other partner who's going to be more detailed.
Colleen: It’s a nice touch. You'll get that here at Showcase Realty. Nancy, thank you so much.
Nancy: Thank you.
Colleen: If you're interested in buying a home or if you're ready to put yours on the market, visit ShowcaseRealty.net or better yet, call Nancy Braun at Showcase Realty. The number is 704-997-3794. Make sure you mention Charlotte Today. If you do, you'll receive a free copy of Nancy's book, The Ultimate No Holds Barred Guide to Selling & Buying a Home in the Carolinas. Again, the number is 704-997-3794. Nancy, thank you so much.
Eugene: Nancy, thank you.
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