5 TACTICS TO GET YOUR OFFER ACCEPTED

By now you have heard that it’s like the wild west in the local real estate market.  Our most recent market report shows the January sales are mimicking the 2020 market as an extreme seller’s market.  Buyer’s are  frustrated, and first time buyers in particular are exasperated by this strong seller’s market.

So what’s a buyer to do? 

We’ve laid out five tactics you can utilize to win at offer presentations.

PUT IN THE WORK AHEAD OF TIME

It almost goes without saying: get your affairs in order so that come offer presentations, you are able to put your best offer on the table.  This means, get yourself pre-approved by your mortgage lender, your deposit ready to go, and a lawyer lined up.  You can even request home inspections during the viewing period, allowing you to drop the condition of inspection and making your offer more appealing to sellers.

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

When you do offer on a property, make sure you Realtor packages your offer up to showcase the strength of your offer.  This means a copy of your pre-approval letter from your lender, a copy of your deposit cheque ready to go, and a strong cover letter from your agent outlining the strengths of your offer.  Too often our listing agents will receive offers from agents with no background information or supporting documentation.  Remember, you have one opportunity to make a positive impression, make sure you send in the whole package. 

PERSONALIZE YOUR OFFER

Consider including a personal letter to the seller about yourself and why they should pick you to be the next owner of their home. 

PRO TIP: Consider doing a video introducing yourself and why they should consider your offer.  Some think it’s cheesy, but it works! 

ELIMINATE THE COMPETITION

By this we mean consider being a backup offer on a deal that might have been oversold.  A percentage of properties that received offers end up back on the market because the buyer didn’t come through on a condition or didn’t deliver a deposit cheque, forcing the seller to go back to the market.  Having your Realtor let the listing side know that you are still interested in the property and willing to jump in if something goes sideways could mean you get called when the first deal goes south, and the seller may consider your offer over the risk of going back to the market. 

GO OFF MARKET

Another way to eliminate the competition – play outside the arena! Off-market homes are ones that may be weeks or months away from listing, or were previously on the market.  Some home sellers don’t want to list during the pandemic and would consider selling if presented with a viable buyer. The plus side for the seller: they don’t have to deal with showings, repairs, or staging. The plus side for you: no competition! Is your Realtor networking within their brokerage, letting their colleagues know what you are looking for?  Take it one step further: is your Realtor networking with their Realtor colleagues in other brokerages, asking what they have off market that might match what you are looking for?

Patience, high levels of communication between you and your Realtor, and a well thought out strategy around the offer process will help tilt the playing field in your favour. Don’t let a hot seller’s market beat you up or chase you away from your dream of homeownership.

The HGR Realtors are highly trained to find opportunities for our clients, and present their best offers come offer presentations. If you are preparing to step into the real estate arena this year, make sure you’ve got the best possible Realtor in your corner.

Let’s do this! 

THE PAST WEEK IN THE GUELPH REAL ESTATE MARKET

Last week in our local market, 48 homes sold. Same week last year, we saw 36 home sales.

The median home last week was on the larger side: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 1,780 square feet. This home sold in 6 days – that’s two weeks in a row of list-to-firm in under a week. The median sale price was $737,450, which reflects the larger home size – that translates to $418/sqft (for comparison, last week’s median was $444/sqft). Sellers achieved 110% of the original list price, for the second week in a row.

Same week last year, the median home was slightly smaller, with 4 beds, 2 baths and 1,345 square feet. In contrast, this home sold in 13 days for $561,500 – that’s $391/sqft and 101% of the original list price.

All but 2 of the 48 homes sold last week went at or above list price (that’s 96%). In the same week last year, 25/36 of homes sold at or above list – which is 69%, still a significant figure! Even more, 10 of the 48 sales this past week sold at over 120% of list price. The supply/demand issues was beginning to show its face this time last year, and these number show that it clearly persists.

JANUARY MARKET REPORT

We’ve released our January 2021 Market Report. This comprehensive report breaks down sales activity in Guelph by home type and neighbourhood, plus detailed reports for Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and our surrounding townships.

Click below to view and download the report, and as always, reach out to us if you have specific questions or you’d like to know more about a certain area.

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