By most accounts, we've been in a strong Seller's Market for nearly 10 years now. A Seller's Market means there are more Buyers than Sellers, which creates higher demand for fewer homes. Buyers are getting into bidding wars and making offers super attractive to Sellers by waving things like appraisals and inspections. And because of the lack of supply and high demand, prices are going UP. Drastically.
Many buyers are frustrated with these conditions, but it's not impossible to buy a home in this market. You just may have to be flexible and adjust your expectations.
1. Hire the right REALTOR who's going to work hard for you. Your Realtor shouldn't be afraid to search high and low for homes -- which may mean finding homes that aren't listed for sale -- aka "Off Market" listings. Agents can "door knock" or send letters or postcards to a neighborhood trying to find homeowners willing to sell. They can search homes that were once listed several months or years ago, but the listings were withdrawn or expired. They may even try to find FSBO listings -- For Sale By Owner. 
2. Search outside of your desired area. For example, if you've been searching in Erie, Colorado and there's only a few homes for sale in your price range and you've lost out to more competitive offers, maybe you need to expand your search to Frederick or Firestone. Or Berthoud. Or Brighton.
3. Check out New Construction. There's a TON of new construction going on right now, all over the front range. Yes, some of the new home prices have gone way up; however, some builders are making more affordable options -- such as "carriage homes" or "paired homes". Some builders are building single family homes without basements. I know this isn't ideal, but it does make the home less expensive.
4. Adjust your search criteria and expectations. Maybe you were wanting a single family home with at least 4 bedrooms. Could you settle for a town home with 3 bedrooms and an office?
5. Make a winning offer. Finally, when you do find a home that would work for you, be prepared to go in with a super strong offer.
- Price -- Depending on how many competing offers there are, you may need to go way above list price. In some cases it's not unheard of to go $25K, $50K even $100K over list price. You may try an "escalation clause" -- i.e. "I'll pay $5K over any other higher offer up to a max of $600K" (or whatever you're comfortable with).
- Appraisal -- You may have to offer an "appraisal gap" clause. (Let's say you're under contract for $600K, but it appraises for $575K. You
offer to pay that $25K "gap"). - Inspection -- You may need to include attractive inspection verbiage -- i.e. "We'll do an inspection for 'health & safety' issues only."
- Post Closing Occupancy -- If you're in a month to month rental, and are flexible on when you can take possession, it may be attractive to offer a free "rent back" to the sellers if they need it.
- Title Fees -- Offer to pay the title insurance and closing fees.
I know it's a rough time for buyers, but it is still possible to buy a home, if you're willing to make some adjustments, can be flexible AND if you have a good REALTOR working hard for you!
For questions about the home buying process, please do not hesitate to contact me!
Sally Grenier
Broker Owner
Grenier Real
Estate
303-475-4508 Cell
www.sallygrenier.com