We do get this question from time-to-time so it’s good to go over some of the basics, because there are some proven techniques that can help Huntsville Home Buyers filter potential good deals into their shortlist of favorite properties.
Look at Local Builders with Inventory
Home builders are in the business of selling their own homes and with unit-sales down significantly in the Huntsville area, those with pent-up inventory are motivated to move existing properties where they are incurring monthly caring costs.
Building from scratch is of course a personal choice and may be the right solution for your family, but be aware a builder is likely to be far less motivated for deal making with new construction verses their existing inventory.
Do Look at Huntsville Foreclosure and REO Sales
While caution should be exercised when considering foreclosures, they are often-time opportunity in the making. However some personal research is required within this area, so you have a good grasp of First Right of Redemption and Indemnity Bond situations, as these can and often do arise with foreclosed homes.
Real Estate Owned (REO) properties also offer possible deals and not just bank owned homes but also seek-out Relocation Firms that have purchased properties from employees of their clients. Relocation companies in this situation are incurring caring costs and are often-times ripe deal making opportunities.
Automate Your Real Estate Search As Much As Possible
Utilize Online Real Estate Search Engines that are capable of automating key attributes of potential real estate deals.
Listing date and days-on-market are two attributes that can be utilized with automation to help find motivated sellers. The longer a home has been on the market, especially if a previous pending sale has gone sour, the more likely there will be a deal making opportunity.
A search feature that would allow a user to filter search results with a Minimum Days-on-Market Parameter could be invaluable in sorting potentially motivated sellers to the top of your scouting list. Also the ability to sort search results with days-on-market helps to discriminate the search results even further.
Price per square foot is another parameter that can be helpful in identifying homes that are priced-to-sell regardless of time-on-market. While square footage price is not an ultimate equalizer, it can be a very useful indicator of value especially within localized searches such as subdivisions. A search feature that would filter with a Maximum Square Foot Price and support sorting search results based on square foot pricing is thus also desirable.
Nevertheless above all else you need to have the capability to save your search criteria for easy recall and setup automated email notifications on homes that move into your targeted parameters. This way as a home’s time-on-market increases or if sellers reduce prices and come within your scoped parameters, you are automatically notified so you can take a closer look at a new potential deal.
Build a Working Relationship with a Local Realtor
Having a good working relationship with a qualified local Realtor can be the most useful resource in your arsenal. They are often privy to hard to find information that can help you identify all the deal making characteristics previously mentioned.
Also remember, most real estate search engines are very powerful creatures and often the public interface presented doesn’t even scratch the surface of their capabilities, since these interfaces are designed with ease of use in mind. Here is where having a good working relationship with a local Realtor can pay off substantially, as many would be more than happy to setup the entire automated search process for you, without you having to endure the normal trial-and-error that comes with such an endeavor.
Regardless of which real estate professional you decide to work with, remember that the typical real estate professional and their family, are likely feeling the current economic downturn with more intensity than many other professions, thus be sure you build trust with your selected agent by establishing an exclusive relationship.
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