How Not To Get Ripped Off When Buying A Home

The 2022 real estate market is not friendly to buyers right now, as sellers want to feel 100% secure in the buyer they choose. If you are a buyer, though, never fear! Our team of agents has 5 tips that will help you feel more empowered as you fork over your funds to secure a home.

1) Hire a local, full-time agent.

Your agent must know the trending prices so you know what a winning price looks like in the market you are shopping in. They need to know things like days on market, average percentage over asking price, and prices at which other homes are pending so you can identify the demand of the market. If the home down the street went for $200,000 over ask with 8 offers, you have 7 other buyers looking for the same product. Local, full-time agents study those stats and have the relationships to find out information that will make you a knowledgeable buyer.

2) Get a pre-inspection.

We are in the land of “waived inspections” in the Seattle, WA market, so to protect our buyers we recommend getting a pre-inspection. If you are worried about buying a lemon, schedule a pre-inspection before you write an offer. This gives you a chance to look at major items before you craft your aggressive offer with a waived-inspection contingency. If you are a seller, get a pre-inspection so that your buyers will feel more comfortable paying more for the house.

Most homes on the market have an offer review period: homes come on the market Thursday or Friday and offers are reviewed Monday or Tuesday. If our buyers look at homes on a Friday then we schedule pre-inspections for Saturday or Sunday, before offers are due on Monday or Tuesday.

3) Buyers should be financially prepared. 

Getting all the way through underwriting with your lender will allow you to offer a quick close, and if you know your stash of cash amount you can cover an appraisal gap. Probably most important, though: sell your house so you aren’t contingent. If you have your finances under control you can go in as a strong buyer and won’t have to run up the price to get noticed; instead, they’ll notice you because you can have a quick close since you are underwritten. Also, have your lender call the listing agent to vouch for you. Local lenders provide that service, and oftentimes it’s how you get to the top of the list.

4) Know what the seller wants.

Your agent should basically date the listing agent. Find out the hopes and dreams of the seller and write an offer to satisfy what they want. Money isn’t always the most important; for instance, if a seller wants a rent-back so they can have time to find their next home, often they will take less money for a free rent-back.

5) Hire a local lender. 

They can spot the overpriced homes, as there are always a handful that are unrealistic. If you hire an agent from a market that is HOTTER than yours, they might not know the comps or the tempo of this market and offer bad advice on writing an aggressive offer when you don’t have to.