Three Must Haves When Making an Offer to buy real estate in today’s Imperial Valley housing market
Face it, everyone wants a deal and I can tell you first hand there are some great deals with incredible value out there, however the banks that own the bank owned and foreclosure homes are NOT going to give their properties away. Whether you know what you’re looking for or need help in finding the right property, you can still get a great deal in today’s market, but make sure you follow these Must Have’s before moving forward.
First MUST HAVE when making an offer in today’s Imperial Valley real estate market is you must be PRE-APPROVED for your mortgage. Yes, being pre-qualified is a basic minimum requirement, however if you are PRE-APPROVED you will know exactly what terms are available to you and what sales price range you can buy-in comfortably. This is like having money in the bank to buy your new home, almost makes you a CASH buyer since you won’t have to start from scratch in beginning the loan approval process since you would have already completed this important step.
Second MUST HAVE when making an offer in today’s Imperial Valley real estate market is you must be willing to put your MONEY where your mouth is. This means making an offer with an earnest money deposit of more than $1,000. Again, the thousand dollar earnest money deposit is the basic minimum, however if you’re serious about being the winning offer for a particular home or property, you should be prepared to put down up to 3% of the sales price as your earnest money deposit. In most cases this will be close to the amount of your required down payment and you’ll be required to make the down payment anyway, so be bold and put your money where your mouth is and get a leg up on others who aren’t making serious offers.
Third MUST HAVE when making an offer in today’s Imperial Valley real estate market is you must make sure you’re in a strong offer position by knowing what the market is doing with regard to real estate values and comparable sales. I agree that many homes listed on the market today are overpriced, however if you are looking at buying a home and are SERIOUS about being the winning bidder or highest offer, then you must aggressively go after the right offer price, along with the right mix of seller paid closing costs, also known as concessions and your earnest money deposit, which we talked about earlier.
If I get the opportunity to work with you in buying a home, I will provide you with a current market analysis so you know exactly what area home sales and listings are doing so you can make an informed decision on what to offer. This information is similar to an appraisal and lenders use these types of reports to make decisions on short sale values and bank owned sales price setting before it hits the market.
As your Imperial Valley Housing Specialist I am committed to helping you in making the right choice in finding your dream home, whether its a first time place or your third investment home, I stand by my clients to give them the best representation possible. I look forward to serving your home buying needs. Ask about the Home Buyer Action Plan, my detailed 28 point home buying plan available to my exclusive home buyers only.
If you have any questions about these three must haves or would like to add anything to them, feel free to contact me or comment below. Thank you.
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