If you are buying a home, chances are you likely had to do a lot of leg work on your end to prove to sellers that you are a serious buyer. Pulling your credit in advance to clean up any errors, pay off debt while saving money for a down payment and then going to the bank to get pre-approved…..after providing all of your financials. Sellers simply have to pick a Lake Tahoe Realtor®, sign a listing input form and voila! Their Lake Tahoe real estate agents takes it from there. By putting their home on the market, one would assume they are super serious about selling, right? Not always. There are home buyers with the nick name “Looky Loos”, who are more in the window shopping stage. There is also a sellers equivalent that is really just testing the market to see what they can get. So after all your hard work proving you are serious, how do you find a seller that is too? Luckily, there are some signs you can keep an eye out for, and if they are present, you should really have a long discussion with your Lake Tahoe Realtor® to see if this Lake Tahoe real estate for sale is worth pursuing.
Red Flag #1: The house is way overpriced
If you are paying attention to the news, everywhere you look is telling consumers that Lake Tahoe real estate is hot, hot, hot! We are in a seller’s market which means there is not enough inventory to meet the buyers demands. The result of this is correctly priced homes are selling fast and a lot of times with multiple offers that end in an over asking selling price. If someone has their home priced incorrectly for the market, they could simply be checking out the market to see if they can get their dream dollar figure. Or they are working without a qualified South Lake Tahoe Realtor® and don’t know what the appropriate comps are. Both reasons indicate one of two things: the seller is either not serious, or they are simply uninformed. Find out before proceeding ahead.
Red Flag #2: The seller won’t change the price
If a home owner isn’t willing to reduce the price after a Lake Tahoe home for sale has been sitting, they likely don’t care too much about whether or not they receive offers. After all, time is as valuable as money so if a seller wants to be unreasonable about the price, they probably aren’t that motivated. Especially in a seller’s market when there is a demand that could result in a very satisfactory offer from a serious buyer.
Red Flag #3: The listing has a lot of MLS status changes
While some Realtors® will wait a certain amount after the property has expired to relist, a property that has a lot of “red light green light” action is one you should be wary of. If it is constantly bouncing from active to temporarily off the market to back to active this means the seller is being fickle. Which also means that unless they made some major repairs or have a good explanation for this behavior, they make not be serious.
Red Flag #3: The house is a wreck
Once the property is actually active and the seller is allowing tours, pay attention to the presentation of the home for sale in Lake Tahoe. Everyone knows that houses that are filled with clutter, dirt, grime and obvious repairs are not going to get a lot of offers. Houses that get action are clean, a little de-personalized and show nicely. If someone can’t take the time to make sure the property is in showing condition and there is no reasonable explanation-such as an injury or illness, they may not really be interested in selling.
Sign No. 5: Negotiating is almost impossible
Want to know for sure if a home owner isn’t serious about selling? They reject a great offer. In fact some seller’s will turn down asking price offers simply because they hope to be in the middle of a bidding war. If they accept your offer and drag their feet they may be hoping for something better to come along. In some scenarios, extensions are necessary but if the seller is holding up the process for no reason you may want to consult with your Lake Tahoe real estate agent on how to proceed, if at all.
If you are buying a home in Lake Tahoe and want more real estate information, give us a call at 530-545-0718.
Nice article pointing out some very good clues to look for.