CLEVELAND — Houses are selling in hours these days and often for above their asking price. With home buyers forgoing inspection and taking major risks to buy homes, how can anyone compete?
“I've never seen anything like this spring in terms of the low inventory, the number of multiple offers in the lengths to which buyers are going to secure the house,” said Jessica Chodaczek with LoFaso Real Estate.
Chodaczk has been a local realtor for eight years and is now seeing many house listings getting 5 to 25 offers within 48 hours.
“You're forced to make very fast decisions right now. And so the more educated about their finances, the buyers are, the better they feel about the decisions that they're making,” she explained.
Last March, Chodaczk clients Tony and Rachel Connelly decided to sell their home in Parma right before Gov. Mike DeWine announced the shutdown. As a result, before they found their new house in Strongsville, they were outbid a handful of times.
“We get there and literally cars are double-parked on both sides of the street. Neighbors are coming out like what's going on because they didn't even have a for sale sign in front of the house,” Rachel said. “It was very overwhelming.”
Now we're learning some buyers are taking bigger risks to win the bidding wars, including waiving inspections.
Buyers are also offering way more than what the house is worth and then also offering to cover that appraisal gap up to $10,000 in cash.
Realtors are reminding buyers, especially first-timers, it's important to know their finances. If you're willing to spend more, make sure it's a long-term investment.
In addition, the Connellys say find an experienced realtor and try to personally connect with the seller.
“It’s a lucky market. You have to be lucky. You have to be, you have to have the right criteria. And the seller said you have to stand out somehow,” Tony said.
Above all else, Chodaczk says have patience.
“We try to do everything we can to make sure that people are thinking with their head and they're not just making a knee jerk emotional reaction because that's where we're seeing a lot of remorse and problems down the road. “
