6 Tips For Buyer’s Agents In A Seller’s Market

Being a buyer’s agent can be an incredibly fulfilling profession, as you are a critical part of helping people make their home dreams come true! Looking for the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood is one of the most exciting things we get to do as adults. Using your expertise to help clients find their dream home can be really rewarding. In a buyer’s market, or even a balanced market, it can be relatively painless. However, in a seller’s market, it can be more challenging.

Fear not though! We’ll take a look at some key strategies for making sure you are able to continue to provide great service and advice to your buyers, even in a seller’s market.

A seller’s market is not the best time to work with “lookie-loos” who aren't sure if they are ready to buy. These types of clients may take up a lot of your time, but in a buyer’s market sometimes finding their dream home at a great price can turn them from looking to buying pretty quickly. In a seller’s market, not so much.

Bidding wars, tight turnaround times and settling for the “not quite their dream” home is more the vibe in the current market. Make sure your buyers are motivated and ready for what they’re getting into before setting up showings for them. They will thank you in the long run.

Once you determine they are motivated, prepare your buyers for what to expect. For starters, when a home hits the market, they need to be flexible to get in for a showing ASAP. Houses are currently flying off the market and sometimes going under contract in a matter of a few days, if not hours, after being listed. In addition, offer deadlines can come pretty quick, so being ready to put together a competitive offer (more on that later) is key. Making sure your buyers are prepared financially and emotionally to move fast when a great home comes around is critical.

Buyers should always be preapproved before looking for houses. It helps define the search criteria and ensures they don’t get overly excited about a home that’s not in their budget. In a seller’s market, it’s even more essential. As previously mentioned, offers will need to be made quickly and possibly for over asking price, so access to an immediate preapproval letter is critical. 

Check out RocketPro^SM Insight for a great way to get visibility into your client’s loan status and upload important documents to help the process go faster. Another thing to keep in mind is that many homes are going for over asking price in the current market, so searching for homes a bit under your clients preapproval amount will help create a buffer if they need to up the offer price.

It bears repeating that from showings, to offers, to everything else in the home buying process during a seller’s market, speed is key. Be ready to pounce if something comes up in your multiple listing service. If you skip a day and a hot new property hits the market, it might be gone before you can even let your clients know about it, much less get them in for a showing. When your clients are ready to make an offer after seeing a house, get it in the same day. Being the first offer can have its advantages, as long as it’s strong.

Be ready to write up offers well over asking price for homes in a seller’s market and make sure your buyers are ready as well. With low inventory, there are usually quite a few buyers competing for the same home and often the listing agent will ask everyone involved for their “highest and best” offer. When that happens, it’s time to put the best possible offer package together quickly to submit.

In a competitive market, your offer needs to shine above the rest. The first component is, of course, price. Look at what other homes in the area have sold for recently, and think about how the listing price looks in comparison. Do they have it priced to sell? Are they reaching? Then get as much info from the listing agent as possible. Do they have other offers? Is there a “highest and best” deadline? Using all that info, recommend an offer price to your buyers. If they agree on the amount, you can use RocketPro Insight to adjust your client's approval letter amount on demand to make an offer quickly.

Beyond price, find out what other components the sellers are interested in when you talk to the listing agent. Do they have preferences on topics like loan type, closing date, occupancy, inclusions, etc.? Sale price is almost always the biggest factor, but if you are close or even with another offer on price these other factors could be what puts your offer over the top.

As a buyer’s agent, operating in a seller’s market may seem a bit daunting. However, with the right approach and a commitment to expertise and speed you can be certain your clients have the best chance to close on their next home.