Are you a Central Ohio home buyer searching for your dream home on the New Albany real estate market at a bargain price?

If that’s the case, then today’s New Albany real estate blog is just for you!

Below, we’ll explain the most effective way to make an offer on a home in today’s economic climate.

If you follow our tips, we guarantee that you’ll walk away with an incredible deal on a beautiful Central Ohio home that exceeds even your expectations!

Continue reading to learn more.

Investing in a New Albany, OH Home for Sale

As you probably already know, the current economic climate has created a buyer’s market in many parts of the country.

This means that supply currently exceeds demand and homes are staying on the market longer before sellers find a buyer.

What’s more, home sales prices are must lower than they were a couple of years ago because sellers are becoming increasingly willing to lower the list price in order to sell their home.

This puts interested home buyers in a great position to get a real deal on a New Albany home.

Here are some tips on how to write an offer on a Central Ohio home:

Check out Recently Reduced Homes. Most home buyers want to offer less than the asking price on a home that they like. This may not always be an effective strategy, especially if the home was recently listed.

More than likely, home sellers will dismiss your offer in hopes of getting a better price for their home with another buyer. But if you apply the same low-ball strategy to a Recently Reduced home or a home that’s been on the market for more than 30 days, you may experience more luck. Since these homes have been on the market for an extended period of time, the owners may be more willing to bargain with you in order to sell the home.

Look at Comparable Sales in the Area. Once you’ve found your dream home, compare it with similar homes in the neighborhood that have sold within the last six months. Compare such pertinent data as square footage, age, lot size, number of bedrooms and baths, sales price and more. You can use this information to determine what your offer price should be for the home you’re interested in.

Ask for Contingencies. Contingencies are a great way to ensure that you get the best possible outcome on this real estate deal. Make the sale of the home contingent upon you securing a loan or the home in question passing a rigorous inspection. In a buyer’s market, it’s much more likely that home sellers will be willing to work with such contingencies.

Minimize Your Closing Costs. In a more balanced housing market, the buyer would pay for the title insurance, property taxes, escrow and recording fees. But in a buyer’s market, the home buyer is in control. So why not try to reduce your closing costs by requesting that the seller pays for these items?

Request an Allowance or Credit. As we’ve said before, the buyers are the ones that have the upper hand in a buyer’s market. So don’t set your sights too low. If you’ve found your dream home and everything is perfect except for the lack of hardwood floors in the kitchen, then request that the seller give you an allowance to replace the kitchen tiles with hardwood flooring. You can even request more than the actual cost to replace the flooring, for instance, by citing the labor involved with doing it. Check with your lender to see what’s allowed when it comes to allowance requests.

Use an Item in the Home as a Bargaining Tool. When it comes time to write an offer, request that the seller include their living room furniture or their kitchen table, even if you don’t want those items to begin with. When you do this, it gives you some room to negotiate with the seller. The seller may not be willing to part with these personal items but they may end up reducing the sales price to appease you.

Set the Time Limit for Accepting Your Offer and Stick with It. Usually, 24 hours is more than enough time to give a home seller to decide whether to accept your offer or not. If you give them much more time than that, they’ll have more time to talk with the Peanut Gallery about whether it’s a good offer or not. So maintain a short acceptance period and stick with it.

Buying a Central Ohio Home Has Never Been Easier!

For more expert advice on the most effective way to navigate the New Albany real estate market as a home buyer, contact us, Kate & Tony Thomas, today!

We’ll help you at every stage of the home-buying process, including:

• Narrowing down your home search
• Making an offer on a home
• Ensuring a seamless closing process
• And more!

Until next time,

Kate & Tony