Today, our buyer partner Michael Langley joins me to discuss what a buyer needs to know in order to make their offer go through.
What is the biggest thing you can tell a buyer so they know how to write the right offer?
It’s very important to educate the buyer about current market conditions. You also need to know what’s happening as far as the list-to-sales price ratio. That information will help buyers make a solid offer in our current market, which does favor sellers at this time.
If a house is listed at $200,000, is it a good idea for the buyer to offer $180,000?
You can offer whatever you want. The value of the home is whatever somebody wants to pay for it and what somebody wants to sell it for. Obviously, in this example there is a disconnection.
What Michael does in this scenario is show the buyers the statistic of the sales price for homes that recently sold. Instead of telling them, he shows them the list-to-sales price ratio. In other words, he showed them what percentage of the initial listing price the home actually sold for.
In our current market, most sellers can sell their home for a 99% list-to-sales price ratio.
“Use the list-to-sales price ratio to determine what kind of price the seller would accept.”
For a new buyer, what does that mean? Why is the list-to-sales price ratio so important?
If you find the perfect home and you want to make an offer, it’s very important that you go through this information. Using the list-to-sales price ratio, you can figure out which price is most likely to be accepted when you write your offer.
Are there any other important tips for buyers in today’s market?
When you find the right home, don’t sleep on it. Make an offer right away. Houses are selling very quickly in today’s market. The worst thing you can do is find your dream home, sleep on the decision to make an offer, and come back the next day to find that another buyer has swooped in and the home is gone.
We have a number of helpful tips to get your offer accepted in today’s competitive seller’s market. If you have any questions, you can reach Michael Langley at 931-444-0137.
As always, if you have any real estate questions for me, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!
