What Does a Seller’s Market mean for a Buyer?

So for over a year now we’ve been in what is known as a seller’s market. What does that mean? Well… basically in a nut shell, it means that there are more buyers than there are sellers. In turn, this causes houses to be sold at a much higher price than listed due to the notions of “supply and demand”.

What does this mean for buyers? Well… unfortunately this means that it may take longer than expected to find “THE” house for you, because there are 30 other people that think it is the house for them. Hence, not enough inventory to go around. This turns into a multiple offer situation and BIDDING WARS!! Oh the joy of bidding wars. Its great for the seller because they are getting $30k, $40k, $60k or better over their selling prices. But it’s not so great for the buyers. These bidding wars are creating what’s called appraisal gaps. Essentially, these gaps are the difference of what the home appraises for and what the buyer has offered to pay. Since mortgages will lend what the home appraises for, the buyers are left to fill that gap out of their own pockets. For some that may not be and issue, but for others it may be the deciding factor as too if they have to continue their search or not.

I often get the question of “Should we just wait to find something later?” My responses vary depending on the situation of each client. I always advise not to buy off of impulse since this home, for most, is usually their first really big investment. So you don’t want to jump ahead just because you want to buy something and it not be what you want. If you have time to wait a few months and see if the Market has rebounded a little, and you are more comfortable doing that then yes wait! I will still send you prospects and keep you posted on homes that you may like in the meantime.

If you NEED to find something with a little more urgency, then my answer is to keep with it and not give up. The Market for buyers isn’t great but when your house comes up it’s yours! I’m there to help you find it and get it!!

As always, I’m there to educate, guide, and be a resource for my clients. I am not going to tell them what they want to hear, but i’m going to tell them what they need to hear and it’s always going to be the truth. My relationship with my clients always evolve to friends, because I honestly always have their best interests at heart. I’m always transparent and show my clients that I am there for them through the entire process. It’s definitely NOT about a commission check for me, it’s about seeing my clients happy and me being part of their reason.