I recently helped some wonderful clients of mine land a little gem of a home tucked on the East side of Hideout Canyon--it has incredible views and the sort of details they were hoping to find in a home, and we did our very own happy dance once it was ours. That said, it was a victory that didn't come without a lot of effort. Over the course of our hunt, we scoured several counties, and upon finding the right space, we fought through several days of negotiations. It got me thinking about the process of buying a home which has been a challenge over the last several years...but especially so in 2020.
So, here's a small bit of unsolicited advice, worth at least a few grains of salt...
First: Get those ducks in a row. By this we mean make certain you have the right team in your corner, because in this market, good properties are literally gone in hours. If you are using a realtor (you know, that intrepid soul trained in matching house to human) make sure he/she works with a reputable brokerage and has an intimate knowledge of the market (we're well equipped to help here *wink*). And if you are securing financing for that dream home, be sure your lender can perform on tight contract deadlines.
Second: Fight dirty. Make no mistake, this market is a bare-knuckled, no-holds-barred schoolyard brawl, and for the right house, you need to be ready to go all in. You should expect to pay more than 10, sometimes 15 percent more than the next bloke. You may be faced with making some (or all) of your earnest money immediately non-refundable, and you may even have to sacrifice a lung or a kidney to get the winning bid. That’s a joke. Sort of. But, seriously, it’s tough out there.
Third: Be uncompromising. If the whole point of this is to find a space that reflects and improves upon the way you live your life, why would you settle? In this crazy cocktail of a world, home should be an oasis, a place where you feel safe, happy, fulfilled and loved. And so, FOMO be damned, it’s important to keep patient and to hold to the belief that the perfect house for you is truly out there. You may lose a few battles in a market like this, and you're likely to find yourself discouraged at times, but stay the course...we're the right real estate brokerage, and we'll find your space.
