(Association of Realtors CEO Bill Stirling; File photo)
The Realtors’ Association says a tight metro-area market means that many homebuyers are changing their strategy.
Executive Director Bill Stirling says the trend began during the pandemic – when the market was especially tight and a lot of properties were selling within a day, before many buyers even had an opportunity to have a look.
He says a problem developed at that time and changes were made to address it.
“A seller would say…I’m going to look at offers in two or three days, and along comes somebody with a bully offer and suddenly the property is gone. So we put in place a process last year to help structure that presentation of offers. So it takes the pressure off of buyers so they know that they have two or three days in which to see a property.”
That allows potential buyers several days to put in a bid.
In some cases, buyers are so anxious to secure a property, they’re foregoing home inspections. Stirling says they always encourage buyers to get a home inspection.
However, “whether you make the sale conditional on the home inspection results or not…talk to your realtor, get advice. It depends on the property you’re buying. But again, a homeowner should still get a home inspection. Even if they do it after the sale, at least then they know what they bought, and they’ve got a list of…weekend projects that they can work on.”