The headlines are all saying that Chico homes are sitting on the market, it is a great buyer’s market. So you take a deep breath and decide to buy real estate in Chico when everyone else is selling. You make an offer on an entry-level Chico home and realize that, apparently,someone else read the paper and decided to buy now too, because there are 14 other offers,and you get outbid. Thinking that’s a fluke, you try again, and get outbid again.
Losing one… Or more Chico houses to other competitive people is just par for the course and can happen to you in both a Chico buyer’s or a seller’s market. Losing like that may make you lose your confidence, but don’t give up.
Keep Your Mind set. Yes, some areas of Chico may have bottomed out, but there are manygood deals to be had everywhere. The Chico buyer’s market has moved the entry level price point quite a bit lower. For this reason, there is a lot of activity in those homes and increasingly, multiple offers on Chico homes in nice neighborhoods and good condition.
Don’t panic and feel that you’ve missed out. That’s the way you would become a desperatehunter, which could lead you to make and impulsive and wrong decision — unwisely settling for the wrong place or even throwing money at a home that’s not really worth it. If you have been outbid several times, take the following steps to break the cycle:
* Stop making low ball offers. You have good taste Okay, then if you like a house,it’s not that bizarre that someone else will also.
* If you are making offers on a really great Chico property or one that has just come on the market, you might need to make an offer at or even above the asking price!When you compare even an asking offer to what that type of house was priced at several years ago, you will see that the value is still there.
* Rethink what you thought and depend on your Chico Realtors local market knowledge. Real estate markets are very local. That means that market dynamics, like overbidding and many offers, city to city, and even by different Chico neighborhoods.Don’t listen to the national news for your strategies. Look to your Chico Realtor to seewhat is going on in the areas that you like. Before you make the next offer, ask your Chico Realtor to find out from the listing agent about the interest shown and what offer points are particularly attractive to the seller.
* Reevaluate your strategy. Analyze the recent Chico home sales that you lost out on. How many days were those Chico homes on the market? How high over asking did they go for? Look at homes in a different price range or try to offer more in your range to be competitive when a multiple offer situation occurs.
* Redefine success. Recently, Chico buyers started defining successful house buying by saving thousands of dollars off the asking price — an asking price which was too high and set by the seller in the first place! Recently, sellers have gotten more realistic about pricing and buyer demand has begun to go up. You do not have to payless than asking to be successful. You just want to obtain a property that suits your family at a reasonable price and with a mortgage that you can sustain long term.