Buyer’s Market: Learning Everyday Real Estate Terms

Learning Everyday Real Estate Terms 

There is a lot of talk about real estate these days and much of it is the result of many markets shifting to a Buyer’s Market. 

So what is a Buyer’s Market? 

A real estate market is considered to be in a Buyer’s Market when the inventory level is above 7 months.  This means that there is an abudance of listings for sale with fewer buyers buying.  The result is an obvious slow down in the real estate marketplace. 

Seller Challenges 

As this slowing or softening occurs, sellers find themselves facing several challenges:

• Longer Days on the Market
• The Need to Price Competively (sometimes reducing the price to stay ahead of the slowing makret)
• More negotiating than typically seen in a Seller’s Market
• The need to use incentives

In a Buyer’s Market, sellers must determine if they truly want to sell.  If they do, they can take certain measures that will put them above the rest who aren’t willing to face the current market conditions.

Buyer Challenges 

Buyers can come against several challenges as well, often due to misconceptions of what a buyer’s market implies for a buyer.  The biggest myth that buyer’s buy into when it’s a Buyer’s Market is that every house must be a distressed sale.  This is not true.  Even in a buyer’s market, there are micro markets that are selling like it is a seller’s market.  These markets could be a new development that is selling fast and for full price, a hot neighborhood where properties don’t come on the market often, or a certain price range where buyers are most active. As a buyer, you must determine if you are looking for a deal or your next dream home.  If you are looking for your dream home, there are probably other buyers doing the same.  Within your price range, there will only be a handful of dream homes.  If you find your dream home, you will want to secure the home by getting it under contract. 

Finding a Deal in a Buyer’s Market 

If you are looking for a deal, you must realize that there are other buyers looking for deals.  True real estate deals are actually rare.  Most sellers are going to try and get the very top price they can possibly get. True deals go in a flash. For example, just a few weeks ago, I received a call from an investor on a property he saw while driving around one day.  I looked the property up and found that the property had only been on the market a few days.  I called the investor back and told him this property was a deal and if he was interested, he would need to jump on it.  The next day, the property went under contract with a different buyer. In a buyer’s market, the really good properties go under contract in a week or two.  The best way to know a property is a good deal is to work with a realtor who knows the local market and search properties online to get a feel for the market.  To get email listings of Wilmington NC homes for sale, click here now.

Learning Everyday Real Estate Terms  ::  www.waltdowdy.com

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