Five Market Opportunities Are Back!

There is a lot of negativity surrounding housing these days, specifically about the changes in our market that have had a negative impact on people. Of course, we are aware of those changes as we live in this business every day and we understand things have drastically changed from six months ago – or even further back. However, what is not as much talked about, but is certainly worth mentioning, are the positive opportunities that have popped up for both sellers and buyers since this new dynamic of the market has started to benefit people who were experiencing so many challenges before.

Here, in no particular order, are five beneficial changes that have occurred since we have seen a shift in the market that we want to point out.

Contingent offers or buyers who have a home to sell.

For over two years, ‘contingent’ was a bad word in any offer. You could almost be laughed at if you were writing an offer with ten competing offers and yours required you to sell a house to close. Now, in this new market, that is again commonplace and very attractive to people who 100% need to know where they’ll go before, they list their home on the open market.

Veterans Loans

Home buyers who have served our country are wanting to utilize a valuable benefit they get for their service through the VA, which allows them to have zero down payment, and pay no mortgage insurance, while still getting the best interest rates of the day. These buyers have been repeatedly looked over in their offers for several years because the competing offers always had a lot of cash to put down, were removing appraisal requirements, etc., and were overall offering more compelling terms to the sellers. For the first time in a long time, we are working with veterans who very much deserve to be homeowners, without the challenges or competition, and with sellers who are happy to be selling to them – and they’re benefiting from this tremendously.

Low down payment loan options.

There is a large percentage of qualified buyers that simply do not have a ton of cash to put down to purchase a home, who could have, and now are able to, take advantage of low-down payment loans – whether it be FHA or Conventional; 5% or 10%, these buyers have been severely disadvantaged for the last several years. They have had to write a dozen or more offers before they finally got one accepted because sellers gravitated to their competing buyers who were offering much better terms and larger down payments. Now, for the first time in years, we do not have those other offers, so after a seller has sat on the market for several weeks, they are thrilled to get an offer, even if it is only 5-10% down.

Asking for closing costs.

In addition to a resurgence of low-down payment loans, another huge opportunity for buyers in this market is the renewed ability to ask the seller to pay for a portion of closing costs upfront. This is another huge advantage to people with low amounts of cash who are otherwise able to purchase a home. Now, for the first time in a long time, we are able to find them a great home, make a reasonable offer, oftentimes under-asking, and get some help with closing costs from the selling side as well.

Repair addendums.

It is so refreshing to see transactions following a more normal path where there are two rounds of negotiations – initially with the price of the home, and then secondarily with regard to the condition of the home. This is a great benefit to buyers who have spent the last two years having to waive all rights to repairs and credits in lieu of repairs and who have simply been performing inspections for logistical reasons or to know what they would need to fix down the road. Buyers are moving away from being willing to buy a home as-is and are instead following a very normal, healthy path where buyers and sellers find a middle ground on anything found to be wrong with a home.

Ultimately, there are pros and cons to any shift in the housing market. If you are a buyer who has been priced out, challenged in the ability to offer competitive terms, or simply someone who has removed yourself from the game out of pure exhaustion from losing to competing offers, now is your chance to get back in the game. I think you will like what you find.

As always, if my team and I can help you find your dream home and negotiate the very best deal for you, do not hesitate to reach out to me directly so we can discuss your needs in detail!

Cheers!
Steve Nassar