Once the dream home is found, the buyer will want to move forward quickly. However, in a seller’s market, the buyer must present the best offer they can to the seller to get chosen. Which means you, as the buyer, can’t do anything to scare them off. Surprisingly, a buyer can be pretty scary since there is a whole lot of money on the line and you will want to make sure you don’t send up any red flags. So here are some things that may scare off a seller.
You Aren’t Pre-Approved
In this day and age, you shouldn’t even think about going house hunting without a pre-approval letter. This letter is essentially proof that a lender is willing to loan you the cash you need to buy a house. Without this letter, the seller will not know if you could even buy their house. Pre-qualification doesn’t cut it, you need to get pre-approved. Sellers are not going to commit until they know you have the money to pay for their house.
Too Many Contingencies
Most sellers want to close the deal as soon as possible so the scariest kind of contingency is a buyer who makes the purchase contingent upon the sale of their home. Since the sellers want to close fast, they don’t want to have to wait for the buyer to sell their home. That could mean waiting a few more months. Another contingency that will scare sellers away is when the buyer includes all the contingencies and inspections available. Intending to decide later whether or not to act on them. A better way to go about this is to have the buyers ask themselves what sort of contingency would be a deal breaker. If that happens to be lead-based paint, a better option would be to test for it and negotiate its removal if it exists. In doing this, you are requesting an inspection but not making the sale contingent on it, which will make you look like a serious buyer.
Lots of Home Repair Requests
Unless you are moving into a brand–new home, chances are there are a few things in the home you would want to have fixed before you move in. Then, after the home inspection, that list might grow. However, you should not expect the seller to fix everything in the home. The seller may decide to avoid the hassle of going through your to-do list and move on to the next buyer whose list isn’t as long. So, the best thing to do is keep your list short and only request the must-haves to be fixed.
A Shady Lender
Sellers want to move on to closing as fast as possible and if the buyer is using a shady lender that might bring things to a halt. A new online lender, who doesn’t have a strong record of getting a buyer approved, may send the sellers running in the other direction. It is best to ask your S&D Realtor for recommendations for a trusted lender in your area or even online. Another thing you will want to avoid is switching lenders in the middle of a transaction. Even if you are doing this because you got a better deal, the sellers may think you were declined by your first lender.
Bad Financial Status
Making an extremely low offer on a house is a surefire way to scare off a seller. However, there are other financial moves that may also scare off sellers like offering a low–down payment, making a low earnest money deposit, or asking the seller to pay the closing costs. All these factors may make it look like you are tight on cash and the seller might read that as you aren’t going to be able to afford the home.
