David and I have been staying at an affordable hotel since the day before the closing for the sale of our previous residence. We plan on being here for as long as it takes for us to find a condominium that not only meets our basic set of criteria but has an X-factor, an element that makes us fall in love with it. Among the tens (close to a hundred) that we have seen so far, there were two that met our every requirement – except they came on the market too soon, before our previous residence was under contract to be sold. Both went pending within days of coming on the market. So, we missed out on both.
As of this writing, it remains a sellers’ market. Consequently, there are few leads available for those of us looking to buy. I am glad to be our own licensed broker, especially in this tight market. I cannot fathom having to be reliant on another individual who is not likely to give us the level of attention that we are able to give to ourselves.
As our own broker, I have multiple lead sources set up that meet our basic criteria. As soon as a lead appears on the radar screen, it becomes my top priority. I verify that it is indeed what we are looking for and, if it is, then set up a showing schedule for ourselves, sometimes as soon as the same day. Especially in this tight market, the ability to take care of our own needs can be the difference between a deal to be had vs. a missed one.
In our area, a fair market value is calculated as [(States Equalized Value) x 2]. In other words, if a SEV is $100,000, then the fair market value is $200,000.
Not surprisingly, due to the shortage of supply, some of the sellers are overpricing their properties. I may allow a small wiggle room if the property is move-in ready with everything we want but, with the knowledge of the specific market in which we are interested, I am not willing to overpay for a property. In fact, if it is outside of our budget, I simply dismiss the lead. It will be interesting to see how long it will take for us to find THE ONE that is to become our next residence.
