Why the Highest Offer Doesn’t Always Win

The highest offer doesn’t always win the house. To make your offer as strong as possible, there are six big mistakes you need to avoid. 

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As a buyer, it’s still possible to get your dream home without having to empty your wallet. To make your offer as strong as possible without breaking the bank, there are six mistakes you need to avoid:

1. Not being flexible with the seller’s timeline. If, for instance, their house is vacant and they’re sitting on a hefty mortgage, they probably want to sell as quickly as possible. In this case, how quickly you can accommodate them depends on how much you’ve worked with your lender to prepare the necessary documentation to make your offer.

It’s also possible they haven’t found their next home to move into and they want to know that they’ll have a post-closing grace period to find that next home before they accept any offers. In this situation, it might be advantageous to agree to allow them to stay in the home after closing and rent it back from you until they can move out.

2. Not having your paperwork squared away. If you’re not pre-approved before you make your offer, it won’t hold any weight with the seller, so make sure you get pre-approved. It doesn’t matter how good your offer is if you can’t guarantee your financing will process or not.

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If your offer is rejected once, don’t give up.

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3. Asking for too many concessions and/or contingencies. If the seller wants these kinds of things included in the deal, they’ll probably include them themselves.

4. Requesting too many things to be included with the property. If the seller specifically declares that a certain part of the home is excluded from the sale, I don’t recommend trying to include it.

5. Not expressing your love for the house. We all take pride in our homes, and sharing with the seller how much you appreciate their house and how much you look forward to taking care of it can make a big difference in whether your offer is accepted or not if you find yourself in a multiple-offer situation.

6. Giving up after your offer is rejected. If your offer is rejected once, don’t give up. A home sale is a process that involves some negotiation, so don’t be offended by a counteroffer you don’t like and possibly miss out on a great opportunity. Instead, keep the conversation going with the seller. 

If you’d like to know more about making your offer as strong as possible or you have any other real estate questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you.

A Snapshot of Our Pierce County Real Estate Market

 The latest from our Pierce County market.

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Today I’m bringing you the latest numbers from our Pierce County Market.

Appreciation for homes in our area has gone up 9.2% year over year, and the median price is currently at $355,000—a mark that is even with where we were little more than a year ago.

From January to February of this year, the median price jumped by 7.58%.

New home sales reached a seven-month high in December, making it the largest total since May of this past year.

As far as mortgage rates are concerned, we’re currently at 4.37%, which constitutes a 12-month low—rates decreased to 4.33% in February of 2018.

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Don’t confuse homes that are on the market with homes that are in the market.

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Homes that are selling are doing so in 53 days on average, and homes that are struggling to sell are spending about 91 days on market. This is demonstrative of a tale of two markets, so don’t confuse homes that are on the market with homes that are in the market.

842 homes sold this past February. That’s a 12-month low for Pierce County, which can likely be ascribed to a lack of inventory for buyers to purchase from.

How does the current median list price compare to the median sold price? Right now, the median list price is a little shy of $480,000, while the median sold price is $355,000—a 26% disparity. These numbers bear out the fact that there’s a lot of overpricing happening in our market. If you’re selling your home and it’s been on the market for 53 days, in all likelihood, you’ve priced it too high.

Know that we’re here to be a resource for you. If you have any real estate-related questions or you’d like to know more about your neighborhood so you can make an informed decision for your own property, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. I hope to hear from you soon!

An Update on Where Our Real Estate Market Is in 2019

How did the 2018 housing market compare to 2017? Let’s find out.

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Now that we’re in the new year, it’s time to compare our year-end numbers for 2018 with those from 2017. Let’s see what changed.

3,935 homes were sold in 2017, while 3,407 were sold in 2018—a decrease of 13.5%. This is most likely because there wasn’t as much inventory. The amount was getting lower and lower, but we’re finally seeing it begin to correct itself. 

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Decreased inventory meant an increase in price.

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The decreased inventory meant an increase in price; the median sales price in 2017 was $315,000, which increased to $340,000 by the end of 2018. This is an 8% increase year over year. The sale-to-list price ratio was 100% for both years, meaning that all homes met their selling goals.

The median size of homes (at $340,000) is still three bedrooms, two-and-a-quarter bathrooms, and 1,900 square feet. The average number of days a home spent on the market was 21 days in 2017 and 23 days in 2018.

Overall, we’ve seen some great growth in our market as people move into the Pierce County area. If you have any questions, need more information, or would like to know more about your hyperlocal market, reach out to us. We look forward to helping you soon.

A Few Tips to Help You Grow You Credit Score in 2019

If you want to grow your credit score in 2019, follow these tips.

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How can you grow your credit score in 2019? Here are a few tips that will help.

First, shoot for perfection! In terms of a perfect credit score, the magic number is 850. Not everyone is able to achieve this mark (the ratio is roughly one out of every 200), but it’s still a good goal to have.

If you want to be more realistic, you can shoot for a score of 750 or higher. Meeting this benchmark opens up many possibilities for you as well. For one thing, you’ll get a better interest rate, so you’ll save a lot of money over the life of your loan.

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35% of your credit score is determined by how timely your payments are.

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Next, set up automatic payments for yourself. Approximately 35% of your credit score is determined by how timely your payments are, and a great way to ensure that your payments are consistently on time is to automate them.

Also, keep an eye on your credit limit. Maintaining a good credit score is a bit of a balancing act. For example, if you have a credit limit of $5,000, spending up to that limit will reflect poorly on your credit score. You should try to only spend 10% to 20% of your credit limit—that’s the sweet spot. Don’t spend 0%, either—a 0% balance can make credit rating agencies suspicious that you’re not using your credit responsibly.

If you’d like more tips about improving your credit score or you have any other real estate-related questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you.

4 Reasons to Buy a Home During the Holidays

 Why wait until spring? There are four reasons why the holidays are a great time to buy a home.

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Instead of waiting until after the holidays to buy a home, why not do it now? There are four surprisingly smart reasons why the holiday season is a great time to buy, and today we’ll be going over each one:

1. Less competition. Traditionally, we see the most homebuyers during the spring and summer seasons. These aren’t great times for you to jump in as a buyer; you’ll find yourself competing in bidding wars with many others who are looking to buy. Finding a home during the holidays means you won’t have to deal with all the competition that comes after the new year.


2. Sellers are more motivated. Whether they’ve listed early in the fall and are frustrated that their home hasn’t sold or they’re needing to sell their home to relocate, sellers are more eager to find buyers. As a result, we find that sellers are more motivated now compared to those in spring and summer.

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Traditionally, we see the most homebuyers during the spring and summer seasons.

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3. You can get a better idea of the home. It’s during this season that you’re more likely to see a home at its worst, which is one reason why sellers wait to list. You’ll be able to see how bad the falling leaves are and get a better idea of what you’ll be dealing with in yard maintenance. In spring and summer, you may be fooled by manicured lawns and blooming flowers. During the holidays, you get the whole picture.


4. You will have more access to professional services. It’s easier to find home inspectors, mortgage lenders, and related service providers during the holiday season. Since there’s not as much real estate activity taking place this time of year, you have the luxury of better access to these professionals.

We hope you have a happy holiday season, and if you have any questions or would like some more information, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you.