Here are five tips to help you buy successfully in the Bay Area.
There’s no doubt about it: It’s tough to be a buyer in the Bay Area right now. If you want to buy a home, how do you get a leg up against the competition? Today we want to share five tips to help you be a better buyer:
1. Have the right attitude. We know it sounds silly, but you can’t stress too much about finding the perfect home immediately. In this market, buying takes a lot of patience, especially if you want to find a property you truly love. However, if you persevere and work with a good team, you can still find a great deal in this market.
2. Have your financing in order. In particular, try and get your lender to fully underwrite you before you look at homes. This means you have to have your down payment worked out, but it will give you an advantage over other buyers.
3. Remove as many contingencies as possible. The three big ones you want to try and remove are the inspection, appraisal, and financing contingencies. If you talk to the listing agent, they can give you information on what issues the seller already knows about the home. This makes it easier to get rid of the inspection contingency. If you’re underwritten, you won’t need to worry about the financing contingency. If you work with a good team that can give you confidence in your offer price, you won’t have to have an appraisal contingency, either.
“In this market, buying takes a lot of patience, but it’s still possible to find a great deal.”
4. Work with the right local agent. This is where we come in. We’re experts in Solano and Contra Costa counties because we live here. We help clients all the time from these areas, so we have deep, personal knowledge about them. If you asked us to help you buy a home in Sacramento, we may know the area just fine, but we’d lack the deeper knowledge a local agent can offer. We’re also well-known within the area, so if we write an offer for you, we’ll have a previous relationship with the listing agent.
5. Be aware of what you want. When you know what you want, we can work diligently to help you achieve your goal. Communicate with your agent, and they’ll help you in any way they can.
If you are looking to buy, please call or email us. This is a tough market, but we have the tools to help you succeed. We look forward to hearing from you!
