There is still competition in many price points in this vigorous market, but don’t count yourself out before you throw your “hat in the ring.” This is Nevada and we all know “you can’t win if you don’t play!” If you find a house that works for you, don’t wait, get your offer in and see what happens. They can accept it, counter it, or accept another offer in which case you have one less competitor. It’s all in how you see it. When you make your offer, fully commit yourself to making the best offer you can. In fencing, it is referenced as anticipating a parry. If you attack anticipating a parry, you aren’t fully committed to the attack. If your offer is conditioned on getting a loan or selling a house, that is your offer so make the best of it. You can make adjustments in other areas to sweeten the offer. This is what is known in the business as “making lemonade.” You add sugar to the lemons to make something special that, hopefully, tastes good to the sellers’ senses. Yes, it’s hard to compete with cash, but cash buyers often want things that sellers aren’t willing to give which will cause the seller to look at your offer. Your agent should qualify you in all areas to find out your true wants, needs, and capabilities given your circumstances and financial situation. Your agent should write a clean offer for you. A clean offer is one that has minimal conditions, no hooks. Hooks are things that gig the other party for a few hundred here and few hundred there. Strip it down, make it clean. Don’t compromise your position, however it can be tempting to forego inspections on an as-is purchase to compete. But you must know the true condition of the home you are buying, or you could be buying a nightmare. Time is an important component of your competitive offer. Be sure to understand what the seller is looking for in their sale. We often tend to think that sooner is better, i.e.- a short escrow is preferred to a long one. That isn’t always true. We had a large sale one time for a customer in which we needed time to pull things together. We knew there was competition, but we wrote what the buyer needed anyway, a six-month escrow. As it turns out, the seller was more comfortable with our offer than that of the quick cash buyer and they accepted our offer. Perspective is in the eye of the beholder – look through your counterpart’s eyes and don’t always choose the obvious. For your advantage, look at the details to gain the true perspective. Other sweeteners can include allowing the seller to remain in the property after the close of escrow for a period of time; earnest money deposit increases at key junctions in the escrow; paying some of the typical seller costs; simplifying the language of the contract; allowing the seller to select the escrow/title company; being generally workable on all matters conveying a cooperative spirit. There are many areas where you can adjust to your favor in a competitive situation, and all should be considered as you prepare your offer for submission. You are dealing with people that have their own wants and needs. Some might match yours; others may be contrary to yours (like price), but all in all, everyone wants a safe, successful transaction where everyone gets what they bargained for. How you prepare and present your offer can convey a lot to an intuitive seller and agent. All will be measured in a competitive situation. The highest and strongest offer doesn’t always win. What counts is that you prevail. How you get there is up to you. We know that you will buy the right property at the right time, but we just don’t always know what it is until we’ve reached that point. Until that time you must push forward searching, looking, acting in a timely manner until you’ve secured what you want. Like anything else in life, those things worth pursuing take effort to acquire. Don’t kill your offer “in committee,” by talking it down yourself. Write and submit it. You might just be pleasantly surprised. We always say that good things happen to good people. Set your wants and needs, be fair to all and go forward in your quest. When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your Real Estate needs… Experience is Priceless! Jim Valentine, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, 775-781-3704. dpwtigers@hotmail.com.
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