competitive seller's market imaginable. Every house was overpriced. Most sellers received multiple offers and many of them were over asking price. Buyers purchased homes sight- unseen, waived the inspection, and tried to pay cash. The market was crazy, but it started normalizing at the beginning of 2022. It is still a seller's market, but there is a chance for buyers to negotiate depending on the property and the location. While preparing your offer, the types of questions you ask yourself should be: “What's important to the seller? Why are the owners selling the house? Do they need to sell? Is there a timeframe within which they must be under contract? If so, is it for financial reasons or because they start a new job in another state? Do they already have a signed purchase contract on another house? Has the property price been reduced due to an extensive time on the market?” It's not always the highest price offer that gets accepted. Depending on the priorities of the seller you may offer flexibility with the closing date. Maybe the seller needs a leaseback, or they want to sell some furniture. Once I had a situation where my client wanted to purchase a home that had a lease. The most important thing for the seller was that the tenant could stay until the lease expired. If a house has been listed several times with a stable price, that's a sign that the homeowners are taking their time and might be waiting for the highest offer. If there was a price reduction after two or three weeks, the seller is probably keen to sell. So, there needs to be some work upfront to gather as much information as possible about the house and the seller to prepare an offer that hits the mark. In a competitive market you should submit your best offer as quickly as possible to have a chance to at least get a response and a chance to bid higher. In a buyer’s market you may wait a bit and find the best time to submit your offer, and you might also start with a lower price than you are willing to pay. But in the end, the more you want this house, the more you should try your best to get it. One thing is always important for every seller and that is that
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