Monday Market Update: Buying While You Still Can

When the market changes, your strategy does too and many homebuyers are feeling the pressure! What used to be a months long search (or even years) amidst low inventory and high demand is now being replaced by a shift in needing and wanting to buy soon. As Realtor.com® reports, “…many homebuyers are feeling some pressure to buy a house fast, fearing that mortgage rates (which have doubled from 3% to 6% in the past year alone) could rise even higher, upping the cost of financing a house.” 

Buying before you get priced out of the market and before you settle for anything is no easy task. A recent read titled ‘How To Buy a House Fast—Before Interest Rates and Prices Rise Again’ suggests 9 considerations for making a swift move. We have identified what we believe are the top 3 below:

#1: PICK YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT CAREFULLY

You will greatly benefit from an agent who knows your local and desired micromarkets inside and out, who has built established and trusted relationships with their peers and who has the ability to find out what homes are about to hit the market. Strong negotiation tactics will also be required.

#2: GET PRE-APPROVED (NOT JUST PRE-QUALIFIED)

Chances are if you are house hunting, you have already been pre-approved. However, please be sure that you update your pre-approval based on the current interest rates, any newly acquired debt and current home prices. Any change in one or more of those factors could greatly impact your qualifying amount. 

#3: BE NARROW-MINDED

Just because you want to act fast does not mean you need to feel desperate. Now is not the time (nor is any time!) to sacrifice what you really want. Don’t look at every home on the market – hone in on those that have your baseline criteria. We agree with Realtor.com® to “Define your absolute, must-have features and only look at homes that fit that list.”

If you are a seller in this market, you may be discouraged by the number of offers your neighbor got last year compared to what you got this year. Or you might be wondering why you had to have two open houses instead of one. While comparing is hard not to do, calculating your wins is important too! Did you ‘only’ get 3 offers but one was exactly what you needed? Is your home value still higher this year compared to last? Can you still land exactly where you want to be? 

Change is not always a bad thing – and the right agent and right plan can make it even better! You got this!

Bobbi Decker
DRE#00607999

Broker Associate, Bobbi Decker & Associates
650.346.5352 cell
650.577.3127 efax
www.bobbidecker.com
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Bobbi Decker & Associates fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. For more information, please visit: http://portal.hud.gov/