VIDEO DIALOGUE:

It’s Buyer’s season. And it can be very competitive out there. Paired with the inherent difficulties of buying property, this can make the buying process long and difficult. But don’t be discouraged.

I wanted to throw out a couple suggestions I tell my clients when we’re looking at houses this time of year in particular, but it’s good advice for any time of year and most markets I’m sure.

When I first start looking with a new client, we tend to want to baby step our way into it. We might go look at a lot of properties but they’ve often been on the market for 5-6 days, or maybe they’ve sent me a list of properties that they saw on Zillow or Trulia, but they’re already under contract. Some markets can allow for time to lapse, upwards of a week, two weeks or more, but here in Nashville and most of our surrounding areas houses don’t tend to do that.

You want to get immediate alerts set up that happen as soon as the agent puts in the information. That means you need the info from the MLS, not from a second resource like Zillow or Trulia. The MLS (or multiple listing service) is where agents list and market homes. It’s where those other sites get the info. But it can take days or weeks even to update, where the MLS will update every 15 minutes or so.

The next thing I’m gonna say may be difficult for some, but it’s true. As soon as you see a property you like hit the market, you need to go look at it. Maybe not that minute, but that day or within the next 2-3 days at most.

Again, sometimes a property will sit on the market for extended periods of time, but most listings receive offers all day everyday from the moment they hit the market. You want to be the first at the table if you want to be a) taken seriously, and b) win the bid.

There are instances where agents will create multiple offer scenarios intentionally, but a lot of agents don’t want to do that, I would say most agents would prefer not to. We want the right buyer for any home we sell because matching the buyer to the right house makes for a smooth and much easier transaction.

Lastly, when a search is already difficult – like when you don’t have a lot of money to begin with. Or maybe you have to look in a super narrow, specific area or something like that… The most common discouragement I see is a fear that a buyer may not have the same competitive edge others might have.

In some instances that might be true. But remember that there is a right buyer for every property. And if you stay on the ball and go see properties as quickly as possible when they hit the market or become available, you are setting yourself up for success. All it takes is a good agent that is right there with you 110% of the way.

Best of luck on your hunt. I know you will find the right house for you.