How to make offers on Maine real estate to get them accepted.
This blog post provides local information that will help increase your chances to get a Maine real estate offer accepted. First off do Maine real estate markets change? My answer is yes, like the Maine weather. Currently the COVID factor made an awful lot of of folks seriously consider where they live and why outside of Maine.
Maine has a great reputation of 4th lowest crime state and the people are friendly. If you don’t want traffic, if small town values and common sense are the way you rock and roll, Maine is one neat location to consider. The property prices on Maine real estate are way way lower. What you buy comes with lots of space around it thanks to less people, more room to roll.
So how about how to make offers on Maine real estate to get them accepted.
The listing sales market in Maine was pretty healthy before COVID entered the picture two Marches ago. Suddenly with an easier time selling elsewhere where property costs more, the Maine real estate conveyor belt picked up speed. Shorter days on market (DOM) times, less inventory in the supply chain happened. Folks not thinking about selling Maine real estate started to think let’s cash in on a strong seller’s market.
So to play hard ball in the current brisk Maine real estate market, think like the seller.
What if you were the owner of the property and reading the purchase and sale contract on their Maine real estate listing. Forget all the Christmas list items of what you want. Put on your big girl and boy pants to make your real estate offer more attractive. Unless you just like making bids, offers on property listings that you are not going to end up owning, be more generous, less picky or demanding.
The seller is not usually desperate to sell and stop thinking how you wished he or she was up against it.
That this home sale was a repossession or bank owned property listing. Something that could be bought for half price. Stop looking in the rear view mirror at the 1980’s or whatever downturn market where you hit a real estate home run and legally stole a place. This is a different real estate market, not driven by buyers and the sellers are in the drivers seat.
How to make offers on Maine real estate today requires waiving some contingencies.
Making your sale contingent upon moving, selling your old home before buying the new one up in Maine. Is that the only way you can pull off the purchase? Banks were made for a reason to provide a bridge if the sale timing is not lining up perfectly. Here’s a list of Maine local banks to tap to remove that gotta sell before you can buy financing contingency.
The building inspections that you want included in your offer on Maine real estate may provide you piece of mind. But what if you could line up a carpenter, plumber, electrician and double back to tour the property pronto. So the report from these professionals that tell you the good, the bad, the ugly is removed because already done as the paperwork to buy is being drawn up to sign. So no need to have that “sale contingent upon home inspection in fourteen days” which is not needed.
Again, thinking like the seller, not the buyer writing up the real estate offer paperwork.
What would you do if present several contracts to purchase and hey, here’s one not contingent upon the old house sale, not tied to a successful building inspection. Tack less on for obstacles and take care of them before entering the let’s make an offer on the Maine real estate listing.
If you can pay cash, you go to the head of the class. Moved to the top of the pile of contracts the seller is considering on that brand new listing that just hit the market. Need a bank to finance, get all the pre-approvals, pre-qualified documentation tucked into your house hunting folder. You can not roll the dice without it and the time to get financing eats up valuable time.
The Maine home seller wants someone ready, willing, able to buy today.
Not a maybe you can and hold that thought Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss Seller for a week or more. The seller is not going to… does not have to wait and time is money. Lost opportunities happen if tied up and on hold when other parties want to play the make offers in Maine real estate game. Making your sale contingent upon clear title, a search in the registry of deeds search is fine and dandy.
How big is the deposit… a dollar to go with the real estate offer?
Ten thousand dollars for earnest money to show you are pretty darn serious and able to perform? Or the entire purchase price put in the escrow trust account just waiting for the real estate closing to take place?
It makes a difference and what would you do, how would you feel if you were the seller of the property when you see what is inserted in the size of deposit space on the purchase and sale agreement to buy? Don’t hold back, give it all you got and go above and beyond.
Making offers on Maine real estate in the hot COVID housing market that you really really want accepted.
Stop the nickel and dime. You notice there is a full tank of heating oil during the house showing. You want the seller to leave that fuel behind. It’s only about 260 gallons at a state average of $2.69.
How would you feel as the seller if your buyer did not want to prorate the heating fuel oil? Or wanted your riding lawnmower, the Corvette or Mustang parked in the extra garage bay and all eight cords of next year’s fire wood out back?
The seller reading your offer to purchase his Maine home.
He sees you the buyer are demanding the septic system be cleaned again at your expense even though it was just done last summer.
And while you are at it, let’s get that chimney flu cleaned and you the seller pick up the tab. Hustle to get the long laundry list of do this, this and just a couple more things or I won’t buy your home.
The seller does not want you to buy his house and is not going to accept your offer that came in at half the listing price.
The wheeling dealing and let’s negotiate dance is not happening in this never before seen fast Maine real estate market.
Don’t have the stomach for it or moving too fast to make a clear headed decision? Then keep saving, sit out this market and wait. Wait some more.
Since the ability to telecommute to Maine happened thanks to COVID work from home trial run, it is not just retired folks heading to Vacationland.
Young families wanting small town Maine quality of life see the low cost affordable housing as one big perk.
No white vans parked down the street lurking to kidnap their kids either.
You can work online remotely but have Maine year round. Remember how much fun that one long weekend or seven days off was the last several annual trips to Maine? Just think if you lived here full time. Maine, the way life should be.
Other aids in making sure your offer to buy Maine real estate has a fighting chance of being accepted?
Use local banks in Maine with lending authority done here in state. There is a shortage of appraisals nationwide and getting a valuation order filled for the financed Maine property is going to be easier using a local bank with close by appraisers.
The local appraisers avoid far away bank lenders who don’t understand Maine and apply standards from many states away.
Added expenses you the buyer pick up on the settlement statement to dig deep and pay.
Appraisers in Maine don’t want to give back an AMC (appraisal management company) fee for the privilege of filling the order when they are already out straight like a MASH unit field hospital. Local banks in Maine assign the orders and don’t don’t expect the appraisers to work for less and to do more work.
Local banks make sense and you are going to need one when you move to Maine right?
The local bank does not keep kicking back the appraisal because they don’t understand the area real estate market. They are the local experts. You get less hassles, delays, added expenses of money and time.
Take too long and the seller won’t extend the real estate closing date because you picked the wrong lender far far away and out of touch.
Anything that eats up time and keeps the property off the market is bad for the seller.
The buyer who needs to get into a place and out of a rent or their old home that just sold. Time is very precious and a local insider with real estate experience can make sure everything is on track.
Any other advice to helping the chances of your Maine real estate offer being accepted by a seller who has lots of other options?
Be considerate, if a multiple offer situation exists just play by the rules and don’t be offended or hot headed. If you don’t want to be competing with other buyers for a property, back out and wait for a time when multiple offers are not the norm.
Think of the house keys you need and do what you have to in this strong Maine real estate market to get them. If the possession date is a couple weeks later, it’s all good, just stay where you are another fourteen days. It’s worth it, there is a shortage of other homes to consider in the heavily hit inventory that is in short supply.
You can’t write a “love letter” to accompany the real estate offer for the seller to scan and consider when it pulls at the heart strings.
That is in violation of fair housing or any of Maine’s protected classes. The facts you do or don’t have kids that would love that lake home. Keep all that to yourself and not little tear jerking letter to accompany the offer please and thank you. No notes about Grampy is getting older and has little time left but sure would light up sitting on the dock watching the fish jump and hearing loons singing. That’s discrimination based on familial status. They better not care about your political party, race, religion, skin color or anything else that discriminates.
There is some stuff in the garage, left behind in the cellar.
That’s okay, no contingency about being bloom clean and white glove tested. Make it easier for the seller and the property owner will help your chances getting the Maine real estate offer accepted.
Be prepared to pay above the Maine real estate listing price too.
More money, less contingencies, there is the winning bid ingredients especially for Maine waterfront properties. Pay above and beyond or keep getting offers rejected can happen. Keep saving money to make yourself strong financially. To play some face cards to win the game in how to make offers to buy a home in Maine successfully.
Buying or selling Maine real estate?
No matter what the current market conditions are when you are ready, here to help! Worthwhile read? Don’t want to wastHope this blog post on how to make offers on Maine real estate to get them accepted was helpful.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |
MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA
