How to Get the Home You Want in a Tight Market

Dear Future Homeowner:

It's really tough to find the home you want in the Birmingham area. By the time you do, there are already multiple offers -- if it isn't already under contract. According to the Wall Street Journal, this is due to an increasing amount of investors buying and renting homes instead of buying, fixing, and flipping homes. There are many different companies currently buying and holding onto homes in the Birmingham area increasing rents and reducing inventory.

Here are a couple of ways to make sure your offer is accepted over everyone else's in a tight inventory market:

1) Work with a well-respected REALTOR®. A well-respected realtor will most likely know the seller's agent from having worked with them before. This gives your offer familiarity and instant trust that your offer will get to the closing table.

2) Make sure you are pre-approved and not just prequalified. A pre-qualification is based on verbal information, a pre-approval is based on an actual review of the essential documents.

3) Write a personal letter. You would be surprised just how much emotion goes into selling a home. Sellers want their buyers to appreciate the home as much as they did. Writing a personal letter gives the seller a chance to get to know you personally, which gives you an advantage over other buyers who have submitted offers.

Happy hunting! If you need information on mortgages or information on which REALTORS® will represent you the best, please give me a call at 205-815-9200.