TIPS FOR HOMEBUYERS IN A SELLERS’ MARKET

Unfortunately for homebuyers, sellers will still have the upper hand this year. But these strategies can help buyers navigate today’s market.

In a time when home prices keep going up, you may have to raise your budget or broaden your home search to find a home that you can afford.

First-time buyers Shelby Brooks and DeShawna Hill, both 30, had to rethink location. “We originally wanted to live in a town closer to Ann Arbor, but we couldn’t find much in our price range,” says Brooks, an account manager at a medical equipment repair company.

After changing gears, they bought a three-bedroom house that fit their budget in Taylor, Michigan, which is about 20 minutes outside Detroit.

With homes selling so quickly and with sellers receiving multiple offers, “buyers often have to be bold and offer significantly above list price to have their offer chosen,” says Mark J. Schmidt, a real estate broker at RE/MAX Country in central New Jersey. Bidding wars are routine now.

Indeed, 41% of homes sold above list price in the four-week period ending Jan. 9, according to Redfin.

A mortgage preapproval is a written statement from a lender showing that you’ve qualified for a mortgage up to a certain amount. “Preapproval can take a day or two, or longer depending on the lender,” says Bryce Kubecka, a real estate agent at Compass in Philadelphia.

Another reason to get preapproved before you begin viewing homes: “Preapproval can be a reality check in terms of what you can afford,” says Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist.

Writing a letter to a seller explaining why purchasing their home is important to you can tug on their heartstrings. But Steven Weisman, a real estate agent at Compass in the Washington, D.C., metro area, warns that love letters can violate Fair Housing laws that govern discrimination based on race, religion and other factors.

In fact, Oregon banned real estate love letters this year for that very reason.

If you want to write a heartfelt note to the seller, have your agent look it over before attaching it to your offer.

Some buyers are waiving their right to a home inspection to make their offer more attractive to sellers, but that can have serious blowback, says Lee Goldberg, a real estate agent at BHHS Fox & Roach in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

“There could be huge problems lurking in a home that you can’t see with the naked eye,” she says.

She recommends an alternative strategy: Tell the sellers you won’t make home repair requests unless they exceed a certain amount of money or unless they pose a structural, safety or environmental issue.