The Perfect Property

Tips For Successfully Buying A Home In A Hot Real Estate Market

by Zachary Thompson

If you are trying to buy a home but the local real estate market is really hot and homes are receiving multiple offers on their first day listed, then it is important for you to understand how to put together the best offer. By approaching home sellers with a comprehensive offer that is the most likely to meet their needs, you can have your offer placed on the top of the pile and quickly accepted. To present the best offer on real estate in a hot market, follow each of these time-tested tips:

Tip: Provide a Meaty Earnest Money Deposit

When you make an offer on a house, you need to submit an earnest money deposit along with your purchase offer. In a buyer's market, you can get away with submitting a low amount of money for this deposit. However, in a hot selling market, your earnest money deposit needs to be a larger percentage of the sales price than is typical. The extra deposit amount shows your buyer that you are serious about closing the deal and buying their home. Since they get to keep this deposit if you back out of the sale at the last minute, a larger deposit is very appealing to sellers.

Tip: Don't Bother With a Low-Ball Offer in a Hot Market

In a hot real estate market where homes for sale go within days of being brought onto the MLS, you simply cannot make low-ball offers and expect that the seller will negotiate with you. Instead, you should make the highest offer you feel is reasonable on the property. In fact, if you find a house that you love and really want to purchase, then you may need to make an offer that is over the listing price in order to guarantee that you will get to buy the home.

Tip: Don't Make Any Repair Requests or Ask for Appliances

Finally, though it is common to ask a seller to repair certain things or include some of their appliances in a real estate sale, a hot housing market is not a time where you want to try to do this. Since most sellers do not want to be bothered by making repairs, asking them to do so could result in your offer being rejected outright. If you ask for appliances to be left behind and no other buyers do so, then that lowers the value of your offer and could cause it to be rejected.

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