Here in Metro Detroit we are in a strong seller's market.  There are just so few homes being listed.  So there is low inventory and more buyers than homes.  Homes are selling quick.  Sometimes the best homes selling in a day and many under a week.  Many times there are multiple buyers and multiple offers on a home you may be looking at.  So how do you get a home when it is a hot seller's market?

So the first step to buying a home in a seller's market is to be on top of it.  So what do I mean by being on top of it?  You have to look at home listings daily and sometimes multiple times a day.  So either you have to visit websites like realtor.com, zillow, trulia daily and look at the homes in the area you want.  The better alternative is to call a real estate agent and have them set you up on an automatic email of all the homes that fit your criteria.  Usually you can get the emails daily and sometimes you can get emails of homes instantly when they are listed.  If you check the emails daily you are going to have a leg up on the competition.  It is also smart to supplement the auto emails with you searching on your own.  Sometimes you will find a FSBO or a home that interests you.  You may find a home that interests you that really isn't in your criteria.  It happens all the time that something sparks your interest about a home that doesn't fit all your criteria.  Sometimes buyers end up buying that home.

The next step is going to visit the homes you have picked out.  Time is of the essence.  If you see a house on Monday or Tuesday you CANNOT  wait until Saturday to go see them.  The home may be gone by then.  You need to go out and see the homes as quick as possible.  If you can go out and see the homes on the first day you find them you have the chance to be one of the buyers that scores a great house on the first day or within the first week.  GET OUT AND SEE THEM QUICKLY.

So now you have gone out and seen the homes.  You have found a home that you like and fits some of your criteria.  You may love it.  Now what do you do?  This is what you do not do.  YOU DO NOT WAIT.  You do not sit back and take a couple of days to think about it.  You do not sit back and think that you should wait to see what else comes up on the market later in the week.  The quicker you make a decision to put in an offer the better the chance of getting the home.  If you can get into the mind set of if you see a home, like the home, love the home, and want the home.....that you will write the offer as soon as you walk out of the house.  (At the end of the day's showing)  You will have a better chance of getting the home if you write the offer as quick as you can after you decide you love the home.

Let's talk about writing the offer.  NO, NO, NO.  NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO LOW BALL THE OFFER.  Low ball offers do not work in a seller's market.  You will just be wasting your time.  Before you start looking you should ask your realtor to pull all the sold homes in the area that you are looking in.  The information you are looking for is how fast the homes are selling, and what is the spread between list price and sold price.  Knowing the percentage of homes that are selling at list or above list will help you.  Especially when you look at that same information and look at how fast those homes that sold at or above list.  If 75% of the homes sold in less than a week at or above list,   Then you should be putting in an offer at or over list if you are bidding in the first week.  Ask your realtor for guidance.

My final word of advice is write a strong offer.  Write an offer that is good.  Put your best foot forward.  Try not to ask for a lot.  Remember the seller has the upper hand in a sellers market.  It does not matter if it is a lake home in Oakland County MI or a home in Wayne County if you follow these steps you will have a better chance of getting the home you want.