Buying A New Home Quickly in St. Louis

Recently, I had a buyer who needed to move within about a month and a half and it was very unexpected.  Because it traditionally takes about 30 days on a sale from the time an offer is accepted, I knew we really had to work together to accomplish this.  There were going to be shortcuts, and there was also going to be an extra layer of trust needed.  This wouldn’t be an issue because I’ve known the buyer for years, but trusting your real estate agent can be tough.  We were able to get a home under contract in three days that my buyer will definitely enjoy for many years to come.   Let’s go over the points we needed to buy a home quickly.

 

Mortgage acceptance   It’s impossible to make a strong offer on a home in St. Louis if you aren’t pre qualified with a lender.  I recommend that my buyers look at three lenders that I am comfortable with.  Because I work with these lenders all of the time, I know they will give my clients great service at a great price, and also be timely in their interactions.  As an example, my buyer submitted the application on Monday morning and we had a pre-qualification letter by noon.  This doesn’t happen everywhere!  Sometimes, it can take days, and even then you are unsure if the buyer really qualifies.

 

Location   The buyer must decide where they want to live.  And, it needs to be specific.  It does not have to be a city or municipality.  As an example, my buyer wants to live in South County.  He wants to be within 15 minutes driving range of a school.  In this case, we are not going to have to look at all of Saint Louis County, just the south, and we aren’t going to have to look at any area that is outside of my buyer’s driving comfort zone.  Location works really well, because you can easily match the buyer to the current home selling prices.  For example, if my buyer wanted to buy a $150,000 home in Sunset Hills, that would be tricky.  If he expanded his search to within 15 minutes of Sunset Hills, that’s a much easier purchase.

 

Clear Purchase Decision   The buyer is going to have to be able to make a decision.  It’s going to have to be done quickly and without too much emotion.  When there’s a house that meets the buyer criteria, we need to be able to put in an offer that the seller is likely to take.  We can’t be going back and forth on sale price, then inspections, then repairs, it’s just not going to work in this situation.

 

Real Estate Agent Knowledge   Having been in real estate sales for over 10 years, I could easily write a book on the things you learn as an agent.  Below I am going to give you just a sample of the things my buyer trusted me to know in advance to make the process go even faster.

 

1. Eliminate short sales/foreclosures from the list. I’ve got thirty days to get my buyer in a house.  I don’t have time for the banks to decide at what number they will sell a home for.  My buyer must be able to live in the home the day after it closes, so I can’t have him moving into a house that needs many repairs.  “As-is” isn’t going to be happening on this deal.

 

2. Eliminate homes that are way out of the price range. Are there lower priced homes that might work?  Sure?  Can we look at every house available in the shortened span?    The same thing goes for homes that are priced too high out of the price range.  Sure, there may be a deal there, the asking price for the house might be too high and come to us, but we don’t have that luxury.

 

3. Eliminate homes with showing restrictions. If we go to confirm a showing, and the house isn’t available to be shown until some open house or only on certain days, we aren’t playing that game.  If the house is for sale, let it be shown.  We don’t have time for games.

 

4. Agent pricing knowledge. I know what to expect in pricing for many areas around St. Louis.  It’s my job to know, and I take great pride in it.  Prices are all over the place, different neighborhoods bring premiums, and there are times where some areas command higher prices than others.  If you are working with a part time agent or a new real estate agent, this isn’t the time to be doing that.  You need someone with experience on pricing.

 

5. Homes on the market We can’t be looking at homes that have just hit the market where there might be a bidding war.  We aren’t likely to win it and by the time we figure out that we didn’t precious days have been lost.

 

6. Experienced seller’s agent needed  We have to work with a seller’s agent that doesn’t play stupid games with timing on the contract.  If we need the inspection resolution in 10 days, let’s get it done before then and not wait until the last minute.  Both agents can play that game and it’s a loser for the seller and the buyer.

 

It can take a while to buy a house.  Inventory is tight right now, but when you are working with a real estate agent who you can trust, they can take many months off of the search if you allow them to.  Let’s understand that not everyone has a 30 day window to buy a home, and by all means, take your time with making such a serious financial commitment.  At the same time, you need to accept the reality that if you need a house quickly, you are going to have to follow some of this advice to even have a chance to buy your new home in time.