Frustration grows! Seller’s market continues in Edmonton

Steady nerves are required in a market that is increasingly frustrating for buyers.  Even if you find the home of your dreams you may stand a 1 in 6 shot at getting that home. Some buyers are finding this difficult and vent their frustration at their agents, or worse yet work with more than one agent, and on their own and decrease – in my mind – their chance of success.

A couple of examples might help.  A recent listing that we marketed saw fairly vigorous activity and in one case a buyer looked at it with their agent and then contaced me in what I can only describe as the lowest of low maneuvers, wanting me to write an offer.  Even after I asked directly if they had seen the home with another agent their response was no.  Although I have the highest respect for their broker, as she is one of best and brightest this industry has to offer, it would not change the fact that they had discredited any offer they might make by not being honest upfront. 

So my advice is that if you are not satisfied with your Realtor find one you can work with.  The right one can make all the difference in the world.  Their advice and experience can be the difference between getting the property you want and making numerous offers with multiple Realtors who you feel don’t care about you, when in fact you haven’t given them the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and committment to you.

Another situation I had last week involved a couple making an offer on an acreage we brought on to the market last week. Their agent was extremely diligent in attempting to get their offer presented.  He also conducted himself very well in his knowledge of the negotiating procedures.  We presented their offer to one of the sellers, but the husband was currently out of town working (which happens a fair bit more than it used to).  My client was happy with the offer and we attempted to get in touch with her husband and present it to him and get his approval as well.  In the meantime the property was being shown to other buyers and someone else liked it and made another offer.  We informed the first buyer about this new offer and when we did finally reach the seller to explain the situation he was happy enough with the first offer but still wanted to see the second offer (WHO WOULDN’T?).  It just so happended that the second offer was significantly higher and the conditions were shorter and so on.  So the sellers decided to accept the second offer.  The first buyer went on a rant that we were greedy and that we had done everything unethically when in fact the opposite was true. 

I have a long background in professional standards in this industry and can tell you that exact scenario can happen in any market, the difference is that the level of frustration that buyers are experiencing is at an all time high.  The lesson from this example is that even though you feel like you have time to deal it is not a good idea to get your hopes up.  My job is to get the most money I can for my sellers.  So when I have a seller who is in a position or wants to sell for less, I’ll let everybody know. 

Having said that my other piece of advice in this market is if you truly love a property make your absolute best offer first otherwise you may not get a second chance.

I could go on to give you a few more examples from the past week but I think you get the point.  The market is tense so make sure you are working with the Realtor that’s right for you.  That gives you your best chance of success. The next step is be prepared to make your best offer quickly.  To that end you and your Realtor should review the offer to purchase before looking at properties and discuss the buying process so that if you do find something you like you are good to go. You should also get a pre-approval for a mortgage so you are comfortable with what you can afford, before you start looking at homes…Happy hunting!