A few weeks ago, I mentioned that October is the best time of the year to buy a house.

The housing market has definitely settled down. The inventory is now 25% higher than a year ago, the average sales price has started to decline, and most listings take longer than a weekend to sell.

Here are 3 strategies I employ to help my clients buy a home before the end of the year without a bidding war and without overpaying.

1. Look for Homes Listed for More Than 10 Days

In August, it took 11 days on average to get a contract on a listing. If a house is still active on the MLS after 10 days, you likely don’t have to compete against other buyers.

Without a bidding war the seller will probably accept list price, maybe less if the house was on the market for a few weeks.

As of today, there are 2,710 listings in Central Ohio.  The average active listing has been on the MLS for 52 days. That’s almost 5 times longer than the properties that actually sold.

Look for homes that were listed for more than 10 days and you will find a motivated seller.

2. Buy an Inventory Home from a Builder

Since the beginning of the year builders had waiting lists and only accepted a few contracts in each subdivision. They also began building spec homes, so buyers would not have to wait for 12 months before they could move in.

Now the market has slowed, and some builders have accumulated quite a few inventory homes. They don’t want to hold them past December.

This opens the door for you to negotiate incentives or upgrades if you can close before the end of the year.

3. Watch for Back-On-Market Listings

In this fast-paced market many buyers submit offers quickly, then change their mind a few days later. They use the inspection or financing contingency as an excuse to terminate the contract.

When a listing comes back on the market the seller is very unhappy. They already wasted 2 to 4 weeks on a contract that did not close.

This makes back-on-market listings great targets for lower offers.

As an extra benefit, we may be able to find out why the previous buyer terminated. This will give you extra negotiating power when you write a contract.

Are You Ready to Buy Before the End of 2021? Call or Text me at (614) 975-9650!