The Colorado Springs real estate market has been a strong “Sellers Market” for well over a year now. This is especially the case when we look at the sub $300,000 price range.
One of the biggest challenges this kind of market creates for Realtors is maintaining your consistency in how you work with clients. When homes sell in hours, not days or weeks, Buyer's Agents feel the immense pressure to get out and start looking, a.k.a. hustle. Unfortunately, this can cause real problems and make the goal of finding a great home even more difficult.
Driving around with buyers that have a loose idea about where they want to live and how much they can afford is just irresponsible. Even in the heat of a full blown “Seller's Market” it’s essential to take the time to get homebuyers prequalified at a minimum and pre-approved if they are really serious.
When market times are short it’s even more important to know specifically what you are looking for. We feel like it’s easier to hit a target when you know where it is. This means we walk our homebuyers through our “Homebuyer Needs Assessment” process. Yes, it takes time and panicked homebuyers feel like you are wasting precious time. Don’t forget, these are people that fear not finding anything much less what they want. We have found that taking the time to isolate the homebuyers ideal home helps us get better results. In other words, when a new home hits the market we aren’t distracted by all the other possibilities.
So, although it might feel counterintuitive, taking a little time upfront to perform a thorough “Needs Assessment” can actually save time and frustration down the road. Once you have a solid idea about what the buyer would ideally like to find, by all means, hustle. This means obsessively checking the MLS Hot Sheet”, standing up in office meetings at wants and needs time as well as scouring potential neighborhoods for potential For Sale by Owners”.
So before you jump in the car, do your homework.
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