How to Get a Great Home (and a Great Deal) in a Seller’s Market

If you’re like many people, you already know that the Boston real estate market is moving very quickly – and that it doesn’t seem headed for a slowdown any time soon. You probably also know that when there are more buyers than there are homes available, it’s considered a seller’s market… and that means conditions are more favorable to sellers than they are to buyers. But can you get a great home (and a great deal on it) in a seller’s market?

How to Get a Great Home (and a Great Deal) in a Seller’s Market

You can increase your chances of getting a great home – and a great deal on that home – in a seller’s market by:

Getting mortgage preapproval
Including an escalation clause in your contract
Being flexible with terms in your offer
Skipping the inspection contingency (though we don’t usually advise this)

Here’s a closer look at each.

Tip #1 for Getting a Great Home in a Seller’s Market: Getting Mortgage Preapproval

The first thing you should do before you even start house-hunting is get mortgage preapproval. Preapproval tells you just how much home you can afford, and it shows sellers that you’re a seriously qualified buyer when you do make an offer. Many sellers won’t even entertain an offer from someone who isn’t preapproved to purchase – and that makes sense, because sellers have no way of knowing if the person who’s asking them to take their home off the market Is even qualified to purchase the home.

Tip #2 for Getting a Great Home in a Seller’s Market: Including an Escalation Clause in Your Contract

An escalation clause says that if you’re engaged in a bidding war, your bid will automatically go up to beat other people’s bids on the same home. You set a cap on the highest amount you’re willing to spend so that you don’t bid yourself right out of your budget, and you don’t have to worry about continuing to make bids like you’re in the final seconds of an eBay sale.

Tip #3 for Getting a Great Home in a Seller’s Market: Being Flexible With the Terms in Your Offer

Let the seller know that you’re flexible on when you can take possession of the home, when you can close, or anything else that may make them more willing to accept your offer. Sellers generally like to work with flexible people because it makes things easier on them – so be as flexible as possible in all the areas that work for you.

Tip #4 for Getting a Great Home in a Seller’s Market: Skipping the Inspection Contingency

We don’t typically recommend that people do this, but skipping the inspection contingency (or any other contingency that we build into your real estate purchase contract) may encourage buyers to choose your home – and help you close faster.

We don’t recommend it because an inspection is the only way you can get to know what you’re really buying. If an inspection turns up something that you can’t live with, you can ask the seller to fix it, ask the seller to come down on price, or walk away from the deal with your earnest money deposit intact. If you don’t have a home inspection contingency in your contract, you run the risk of buying a real lemon.

Do You Need to Talk to a Boston REALTOR About Selling Your Home Fast?

If you’re looking for a new home in Boston, check out our:

If you’re thinking about putting your home on the market, we can help you sell it quickly and at the right price. Using innovative marketing techniques, we can bring in qualified buyers who can’t wait to see the inside of your home – so let’s talk. Call us at 617-966-2475 or 617-262-3075 now, or fill out the form below, to find out how we’ll help you sell your home in Boston.