Buy A Knoxville Home: The Art Of Surviving In A Competitive Market
When you buy a Knoxville home in a competitive market, you need to be properly prepared.
The pace of the market is faster, prices rise quickly, and great homes disappear within days, if not hours.
If you’re not properly prepared as a buyer, you will find yourself sorely disappointed. If you’re thinking about buying a Knoxville home, here is how to survive in a competitive market.
Bring Your A-Game: Get Pre-Approved
When a market is competitive, you need to bring you a-game. If you don’t, you’ll be trampled over by other buyers who are. It’s the prepared buyers who win bidding wars and write the best offers.
The largest starting point for bringing your a-game is to get pre-approved. A pre-approval shows your ability to secure financing. It shows that you’ve taken the time to sit down with a loan officer and provide the necessary documentation to get pre-approved. A pre-approval letter, when submitted with an offer, shows a seller that you have the ability to secure financing, which in a multiple offer situation is something they will strongly think about.
Keep in mind, that a pre-approval and a pre-qualification are not the same thing. A pre-approval holds more weight. When you get pre-qualified, you provide some basic information about your income and debts. But, none of this information is verified. When you get pre-approved, the information is verified and your credit is pulled. This is why a pre-approval is better than getting pre-qualified.
Before you even star searching for a Knoxville home for sale, talk with a loan officer and get pre-approved. It will give you an edge over other buyers. When you find the perfect home, you’ll already have your pre-approval letter in hand and won’t be left scrambling.
Know What You Want
Before you embark on your home search in a competitive market, it important to have a clear picture of what you’re looking for. Without a clear understanding of what you need in a home and want you want in a home, you can spend a lot of chasing your tail and could potentially miss out on a great house.
A housing need is something that is essential in a house. For example, if you have kids, you may need a certain number of bedrooms or bathrooms. Things like number of bedrooms and bathrooms, a certain square footage, a bonus room, or home office are all things that are typical housing needs.
In contrast, a housing want is something you’d like to have, but it’s not essential. For example, you may prefer an updated kitchen and master bathroom. Housing wants are the little extras to a home that are the icing on the cake. Things like neutral paint throughout, a great patio, or lots of storage space are all typical housing wants.
Particularly in a competitive market, it’s important to know what you want. If you go into your home search half prepared, you may end up missing out on a great house by wasting time looking at too many different homes.
Be Ready To Make A Move
In a competitive market, great houses go fast. It’s important that as a buyer, you’re ready to make a move.
The best way to set yourself up for success to make a quick move is by hiring the right agent. A great agent will be the one watching the market and notifying your when a great home hits the market. This is exactly why it’s important you hire the right agent. You hire an agent to help you find the right home. If your agent isn’t keeping an eye on the market and watching daily to see what is hitting the market, you may have hired the wrong agent.
In addition, it can be helpful if an agent can set you up with email alerts that notify you when something great hits the market. This can be one of the best ways to not miss out on a home.
As a buyer, too, it’s also important that you’re ready to make a quick move. There’s always work and other obligations, but it’s important that make finding the right house a priority.
Come In With Your Best Offer
The art of writing an offer is quite a bit different when you’re in a competitive market. You’re no longer able to write a low offer to test the waters and still end up getting the house. When there is the potential of multiple offers coming in, you need to go in strong from the start.
Here are a few key things to include in your offer to help you win the bid:
- Price is everything. Offer a competitive price, often at list price or higher, just keep in mind you don’t want to overbid on a house. It can be a fine line. If you overbid, a home may not appraise and you could experience some buyer’s remorse. Your agent can help advise you on this by pulling homes that have recently sold in the area or that are for sale. Based on that information, they can advise you if your offering price is fair.
- Close date can be important, too. If you’re able to be a bit flexible, this can sometimes be a way too win over sellers. You agent can check with the seller’s agent to see what their timeline is like. Some sellers want to close sooner and some need some time.
- Earnest money can show you’re serious. Earnest money can be an easy way to show a seller you’re serious. If you’re able to put some more skin in the game, it can go a long way. It’ll show a seller that you’re serious about the home.
- Contingencies are another thing that can help you win a seller over. If you write an offer free of crazy contingencies, it can go a long way. You should keep in mind, it is never smart to waive an inspection contingency. You can always promise to do a home inspection quickly.
- Seller paid closing costs are another item that can go a long way. Depending on your situation, you may or may not be able to live without a seller paying your closing costs. If you do ask for a seller to pay closing costs, it can be important to take that into account with the price. In addition, things like asking for a home warranty, appliances, and personal items are all things that can add up as well.
An great offer can go a long way in a competitive market. When you find a great home, it can be important that you’re willing to write an offer quickly, since minutes matter.
Be Prepared To Miss Out
In a competitive market, it’s imperative that you have realistic expectations. Even when you’re prepared, there is still a chance that you could strike out when you make an offer. It is a reality of buying in a competitive market. There are so many buyers and there is just not inventory of homes for buyers.
When and if you miss out on a home, remember there will be other better homes that hit the market. Just because you miss out on one, doesn’t mean you will miss out on the next one. Sometimes things happen for a reason.
The next time around you’ll be more prepared. You’ll learn from when you miss out.
Are you thinking about buying a Knoxville this year? Please let us know if there is anyway that Knoxville Home Team can assist you. Rick can be reached at 865-696-9002 or via email at [email protected]. Kati can be reached at [email protected].
If you’re ready to start your home search today, be sure to our Knoxville Home Search Page.
