On Friday morning, we received 5 phone calls from Realtors® announcing showings to our brand-new listing on the Fairfax County Real Estate Market. By the end of Sunday, there had been over 25 parties who had visited the home. Wow!
The home had only been active for 3 days and we had a lot of activity, so we felt pretty good about the listing.
Can you imagine muddy footprints on this beautiful living room?
But the homeowner wasn’t happy
It had rained the first part of the weekend and prospective purchasers had stained her clean, white carpet. (Even though we posted a sign to please remove shoes!)
So, the disgruntled owner spent a few hours on Sunday night cleaning it to get the home ready for the next visitors on Monday.
When the phone started ringing on Monday
Thankfully, when the phone started ringing on Monday, it wasn’t for more showings. This time, the calls were from Realtors® calling to inform us that they were making offers on the home!
By Monday night, we had 3 offers and we presented them to the homeowner who again, wasn’t happy.
How could she not be happy with 3 offers?
She wasn’t happy because after a very busy weekend of over 25 showings and a stained carpet, she thought that she could get a REALLY good offer.
And the 3 offers that we had received were pretty good, but not Super-duper good… so she wasn’t happy.
Since she wasn’t happy, she didn’t want to take any of the offers. After a little convincing, she finally selected an offer to respond to but decided to hold it overnight.
Turns out that her decision to wait was the right one
By Tuesday morning, we received another 2 offers.
This time, the new offers were very good. But one of them was just a little better than the other one; this offer was solid, the price was right, and the contingencies were minimal.
The owner -finally happy- chose this offer to respond to. We simply tweaked it a bit, and by the end of the day, we had a ratified contract.
Yippee!
But I felt bad for the other 4 purchasers who didn’t get to buy the home
A couple of those buyers were nearing the brink of despair since this would be the 4th or 5th offer they had made on homes and they kept losing to other purchasers. Not fun.
How did the Fairfax County Real Estate Market flip from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market?
Back at the end of December, remember that I wrote about how it was the best time to buy a home in Fairfax County?
Who would have thought that just a few weeks later, we would be in a Real Estate market with multiple offers, bidding wars, and barely any inventory?
The Fairfax County Real Estate market really did flip fast this time around…
What does this flip in the market mean for you?
Well, if you are on the selling side, you’re in the driver’s seat (finally, after several years of a tough market!). If you are considering selling your home this Spring, with a little planning, you could have a very solid transaction.
But don’t think you’re 100% in the clear, as there are a few serious pitfalls to avoid (such as a low appraisal which could derail your home sale, for example).
On the other hand, if you are on the buying side, then you’re going to need to be ready to fight for what you want.
As a buyer, the name of the game is “beat the other offers”
To beat the other offers, you’ll need to have a plan, to have all your ducks in a row, and above all, you must have a winning attitude.
Either way, you’re going to need help
Whether you are on the selling or on the buying side, the first step toward a successful transaction is to get comfortable with a few important details of the Sales Contract.
To help you get started, here is a Vanishing Report (UPDATE: sorry, the report has vanished) that we give to our clients when they sign an agreement with us. But this week, we’re temporarily offering it to current subscribers.
The Sales Contract – 7 Tips for Protecting Yourself
If you are interested in downloading this report, contact us.
The FREE No-Tears Guide to Moving to Fairfax, VA
If you haven’t subscribed yet, why wait?
Downloading The No-Tears Guide to Moving to Fairfax, VA is free, and you’ll get access to our unique home-search (by school boundary).
Plus, you get the Fairfax County Real Estate Affordability Map, AND detailed information about each Fairfax County School boundary.
Everybody is welcome to find a home by school boundary. A school boundary
is simply a geographical area, just like a zip code or a postal city.
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