Beat the Competition

by Allison Jarrell

Shawn Schmidt Smith, a fourth-generation Traverse City Realtor with Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors, shares five tips for making the most competitive offer in today’s market.

1. As a buyer, you should make sure your Realtor is calling the listing agent to start a dialogue and find out what is important to the seller before submitting your offer. Having the strongest overall offer is about so much more than just having the highest price—your other terms have to appeal to the seller as well. Your Realtor should be picking up the phone, making that call and finding out what the seller is looking for besides just price.

2. Minimize your contingencies! The fewer contingencies your offer has, the better. In a seller’s eyes, every contingency is just a possible way that the deal may fall apart, so you need to minimize that in order to give the seller confidence that the deal will make it to the closing table. For example, as a buyer, you shouldn’t be asking for more than a three- to four-day inspection period in this market. In 2015, you could ask for a two-week-long inspection period. Not anymore. Shorten/ minimize that inspection contingency to remain competitive.

3. Convey your enthusiasm about the home to the seller. Your Realtor should be filling out glowing feedback after the showing, telling the seller how much you love it. Sellers will feel more confident about you as a buyer if they know how badly you want the house—it conveys a willingness to do what it takes to make sure the deal will get to closing.

4. There are diamonds in the rough out there. If there’s an area you like but you can’t find the perfect home, consider a rehab loan that allows you to wrap the costs into your loan. Coast One Mortgage does a nice job with these loans.

5. Look for the hidden gems. Kingsley, for example, is a scenic, less crowded, more under-the-radar area to consider— perfect for families, professionals and retirees. It’s not as discovered, but give it a few years; choosing to live in an area on the front end of a trending location is valuable. Alden is tucked into a scenic area with water and rolling landscapes all around. These are great areas to buy real estate, knowing that your property values will grow nicely.