Have you heard the story about your second cousin’s best friend who submitted nine offers before finally (finally!) securing their dream home? If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a hundred times: buyers are struggling to get offers accepted, especially in hot markets like Lafayette Hill, Ardmore, Glenside and Ambler. This tends to especially affect first time buyers.
Here’s the problem: there are relatively few homes for sale, and competition is fierce among all buyers. In fact, you may have heard your real estate agent friends complain that there simply aren’t enough “good” homes on the market right now! (In this sense, “good” is often defined as fairly-priced, move-in ready single-family homes in nice neighborhoods).
When buyers are competing for homes, first timers tend to get shut out first. Why? There are a few reasons, but most commonly because they simply don’t have their financial “ducks in a row”. This means that young buyers are less likely to already be pre-approved for a mortgage. Because a pre-approval is necessary to submit an offer, the process of meeting with a lender can delay an offer.
If the idea of getting pre-approved sounds scary (we promise it’s not, but we understand!), be assured that your EveryHome agent will walk you through every step of the process. Don’t have an EveryHome agent yet? Text us at (215) 896-6764 or shoot us an email at theoffice@everyhome.com
Plus, more and more homes are going under contract in a day or less. We know that in a perfect world, we’d sleep on the decision (for at least a week), mull it over with a coffee and a few friends, consult our therapist, and call our grandmother — but unfortunately, the luxury of taking a week to “think about it” isn’t always an option. Many buyers in today’s market know exactly what they want, and have the confidence to make a decision on their new home in a shorter period of time.