Golden Triangle Neighborhood Assoc.

HOW TO ACQUIRE A PROPERT IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET

Oct 11, 2000

If you are planning on purchasing a property in our competitive market,
the best advice I can give you is to get pre-approved for a loan before
you start looking. One reason many put off this important first step is
because their intention is to look a little bit ?“to get a sense of the
market first.?” The old John Lennon verse ?“life is what happens to you
while you?’re busy making other plans?” rings so true in real estate.
What often happens is a buyer will find his/her dream property sooner
then expected and will want to make an offer.
In this market this buyer may find himself or herself in competition
with another buyer who may have stronger credentials, i.e. loan approval
and/or no contingencies. If you were the seller, whom would you choose?

To give a good analogy, these buyers want to head straight for desert.
No one can blame them. Sure, it?’s gratifying at first, but in the end
they?’re really hurting themselves.
Another reason a buyer may be reluctant to get pre-approval is the fear
of the unknown. True, the loan approval process used to be a horrible,
time-consuming ordeal, so its only natural that one would want to put it
off until he or she is forced to. I am happy to report that this
process has evolved dramatically over the last couple of years thanks to
technology. Several loan officers I work with make the process so
simple and expedient that one might spend about 20 minutes on-line.
Twenty minutes of preplanning can make a world of difference when you?’re
being evaluated for acquiring a property. And when all this nail biting
is over, desert?’s on me.
Leilani Renteria is a licensed real estate broker with Nostalgic Homes
and resides at the Cadillac Lofts. She welcomes your questions or
comments at leilanir@mail.com.