Trying to buy a home in a sellers' market is a little like not having a date on Saturday night. Everyone else seems to be having all the fun but you.

Since there are more buyers than homes for sale in a sellers' market, homes sell quickly and for higher prices than they normally would. Seeing homes in which you are interested sell out from under you and at outrageous prices can be frustrating and discouraging. You continue to drive your favorite neighborhoods, but begin to lose hope that you'll ever get there first and for the right price.

What can you do? If you are in a sellers' market, and wish to buy a home, flip the odds back in your favor. Do the following:

Be prepared to buy.

Get your finances in order, clean up your credit, and talk to a mortgage broker or direct lender about becoming pre-qualified for a loan. Knowing how much you can spend can narrow your search and make it more fun. You will also be in a much better position to act quickly should the right house come your way.

Pick an area where you want to live.

Decide on the lifestyle you want and what kind of home you want . Think about how you would like to live your daily life. Picture your activities and how you want to spend your time. The right type of home will come to you. Do you like to entertain large groups of people? You may want a house with a great room. Do you like to travel and don't care much for maintenance? Something in a gated community may be more your style. Do you love antiques or restoring things? How about looking at a historic property, or an older home? Focusing on your greatest wants will help you and your Realtor find the best home for you.

Hire a REALTOR®.

A buyers' market isn't the time to look for a home by yourself. You need help - someone who has an ear to the ground in areas where you don't. That person is a Realtor. Find a Realtor who specializes in the neighborhood in which you want to live and the type of home you want to buy. Realtors have niches, and usually they are in a particular area of town. Ask around and find out who the historic home specialist is in the neighborhood you want to buy. Call several brokers and tell them what you are looking for and what kind of person with whom you wish to work. Then interview the agents the brokers suggest to you and make certain the one who is most in tune with your needs gets the job.

Be willing to sign an exclusive buyers' agreement.

A Realtor who has you under contract to represent you is a lot more likely to call you with a new listing to see than an uncommitted buyer. Make certain you are the one that gets the call.

Use the Internet and other contacts to your advantage.

Many home search sites offer email notification of new listings, including Realtor.com, HomeAdvisor.com and Coldwell Banker. Don't forget the FSBO sites, too. Also, tell everyone you know that you are looking for a home and to ask their neighbors is they know anyone who is selling. Put a note on the bulletin board at church, at the office, at the day care center. You may get lucky and come across a home before it hits the market.

Make sure your Realtor is networking.

It is against the code of ethics for a Realtor to "hoard" a home once the seller has signed a listing agreement. The agent has 24 hours to get the listing into the MLS. But, in a sellers' market, many homes change hands without ever making it into the MLS database because of the unique networking abilities of the agents. Make sure the agent you select is the one other agents call when they have a new listing.

Don't use multiple agents.

The worst thing you can do in a sellers' market is to attempt to "beat the system" by asking several Realtors to find you a home. They will quickly figure out they are working for the same buyer, and you will become a joke.

Make Your Offer the Most Attractive.

If you have the opportunity to bid on a home with multiple offers, make sure yours is the most attractive offer. Make sure the seller knows how much you like the home, how prepared you are to buy it and that you will make for an easy transaction. Keep contingencies to a minimum; the seller will assume that any contingency is a loophole to get out of the contract. In a sellers' market, they have no reason to allow you to tie up the home. Make it clear that you are ready to move toward closing. If offers come down to personalities, a seller will want to convey the home to someone who "appreciates" it and poses the least amount of trouble.

Have a tie-breaker ready.

If bidding is close, make sure you can offer a tie-breaker. Offer to pay some of the seller's closing costs, and be willing to accommodate as many of the sellers' wishes as possible including move-out dates, and closing dates.

Published: January 19, 1999

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.