Buyer Topics

2025 has been an interesting year in real estate for buyers, sellers, realtors, mortgage lenders, investors, and anyone else who has skin in the game with real estate. A political rollercoaster sent the stock market running wild, but our housing rates remained basically untouched. The rates, unemployment, and inflation hovered around the same percentages, and have been almost the entire year. Unemployment is around 4%, inflation 2%, and mortgage rates continue to be in the 6 – 7% range. If buying a home is on the horizon, even five years out, there’s a lot you can do to prepare personally, no matter what the market is doing. Today, we’re going to talk about how you can compete in a low inventory market as a buyer looking to purchase right now.

If you are ready to buy, get pre-approved. This is the first thing you need to do to see exactly where your finances are at, what your interest rate will be, how much you need to put down, and how much your monthly mortgage will be. During this time, do not buy a car! Getting pre-approved allows you to be in a position to present an offer when the perfect home shows up on a random Wednesday versus another buyer who potentially has to wait a day or two for their pre-approval to come through.

It is so important as a buyer to have a realtor by your side, searching the listings for you, taking you to tour homes or previewing them for you if you’re too busy, and writing strong offers. A realtor is one of your greatest assets during the process of a buying a house, one who can connect you with a lender, assist you in getting ready to buy, and of course, help you find the home of your dreams! Strong offers in a competitive market give you as the buyer a greater chance of having your offer seen and accepted. Make sure you discuss with your realtor the most suitable offer for the situation, what you’re comfortable with, and what the value of the home is.

Writing a letter feels old school, charming, and just like what we would see in a movie. Do not hesitate to ask your realtor to assist you in writing a letter to the sellers, or, if you have a way with words, take a swing at it yourself! Our homes are one of the most important things to us in life. It’s where we lay our heads, raise our families, play with our pets, host gatherings, experience birth, death, marriage, divorces, and it’s something we take pride in presenting to the world. When someone lists their house for sale, it is more than just a listing, it’s their time capsule of their life. A lot of life happens within our four walls, so understanding that as a buyer and writing to the sellers to share your story could be a useful tool in the competition.

Proximity is a top priority for buyers in terms of schools, shopping, freeway access, distance from neighbors, how close they are to their network, work, and more. In competitive markets, buyers might consider expanding their search beyond their initial parameters. A suitable house might pop up within a radius slightly outside your preference, leading you to achieve the dream of being a homeowner. The market is always changing, and seller motivations abruptly change too sometimes, leading to the listing for you showing up! A buyer can consider too, that they do not have to stay in the house they purchase forever and can always begin their process of building equity in a home outside of their parameters temporarily while waiting for a home in their top proximity to hit the market.

More ways you can be a competitive buyer in our low inventory market is to assess if you need to pay off debt, take steps to improve or fix credit, and save as much as you can for a downpayment. Those cups of coffee Dave Ramsey used to tell us to skip out on now actually make a difference in the weekly food budget! I am not suggesting you sacrifice caffeine! No way would I ever do that! Start tracking your spending on the smaller things like gas station snacks, coffees, the wrap you add to your coffee order, and see if they sum up to anything significant. As always, connect with a realtor to answer further questions about buying and selling a property. In a competitive market like this one, guidance to get you the best deal for your needs and help you present the best offers, a realtor is your shining light!