Mistakes Home Buyers Make as the Tampa Bay Real Estate Market Recovers

Tampa Bay Florida home buyers have had an unusual advantage over sellers since the real estate bust crushed the price of homes in 2007-2008. While the housing industry still has a ways to go to fully recover, there are signs beginning to emerge that as the inventory of unsold short-sale and bank-owned properties dwindles, sellers are beginning to have a little more leverageover buyers.

Some prospective home buyers don’t seem to have realized that the Tampa real estate market is changing and recovering. Those people seem to think that all home sellers (including owners of short sale and bank-owned properties) are "desperate." But owners of homes in good condition in attractive neighborhoods are not nearly as desperate (or not desperate at all) as those prospective home buyers would like to believe. "At this point, prospective buyers," says Cheryl Stimac, a Tampa Bay real estate broker at Red Shoe Realty, Inc., “need to start being more realistic in the offers they make."

Here's are some common mistakes made by buyers that too frequently result in the buyer not getting the short sale or bank-owned home they fell in love with:

• Failing to communicate honestly with your Realtor about your willingness (or lack of willingness) to wait for approval:
  One of the biggest problems Realtors face these days is prospective buyers who want to tour many bank-owned and short sale homes, find the one they want, and then walk away before their offer is accepted by the bank.
  
  No Realtor wants to show one home after another to a prospective buyer who is just too impatient to be buying a short sale or bank-owned property. If you need a quick approval of your offer, a short sale or bank-owned home is not the way for you to buy a home.
  
  Although it is possible to receive an approval from a bank within 3 to 4 weeks, many banks take 6 to 8 week (sometimes more) to approve or reject an offer. As a buyer, you should be prepared to wait as much as 12 to 15 weeks, but be prepared to close quickly when the approval is finally given. Demanding a bank approval within 30 days will likely get your offer rejected.
  
  
• Taking too long to “sleep on it”:
  A prospective buyer may feel their Realtor is being "pushy" when he or she suggests making an offer immediately after finding the home the buyer falls in love with. Taking too long to "think about it" now that the real estate market is starting to recover can mean someone else gets the home you wanted.
  
  According to the National Association of Realtors, the number of homes listed for sale has fallen by more than a third since the peak in July 2007. Inventories of Tampa Bay homes for sale may swell a bit later this year as more bank-owned homes hit the market, but homes priced reasonably in attractive neighborhoods will still be "under contract" within a week or two. Some newly listed homes are back to being sold at the first open house showing.
  
  
• Making a low-ball offer:
  Even at the bottom of the market, banks had a pretty good idea of the value of the homes they were selling and not only didn't accept "low-ball" offers; they didn't even make counteroffers on ridiculously low offers. Can buyers offer something less than the asking price? Of course, but don't make offers 15% to 20% below the asking price on a short sale or bank-owned property.
  
  And remember, the bank may set a price (called the reserve price) on a home being sold or auctioned off and will keep the home in their inventory rather than sell it below that reserve price. Banks do want to sell their short sale and bank-owned homes, but you are very unlikely to be able to "steal a home." It just doesn't happen. It's that simple.
  
  It's also a good idea to ask your Realtor to contact the bank or the listing agent to see if there are outstanding offers already on the home. That will provide you with a good idea of whether it is worth the time to make the offer you were considering making.
  
  
• Making too many contingency demands in your offer:
  Typical Tampa area real estate contracts include stipulations such as the buyer qualifying for a mortgage, and the right to a termite inspection and a professional inspection.
  
  But, some buyers also insist on an unnecessarily lengthy inspection periods of 30 days or more instead of the ususal 10. They may also demand the seller pay virtually all closing costs, sometimes on top of a low-ball price offer, demand that a bank respond to their offer within 30 days, or a silliness like making the contract contingent upon a family member touring the property and approving of it.
  
  If the prospective buyer is adult enough to buy a home, he or she ought to be mature enough to make the decision without "waiting for Mommy or Daddy to say OK."
  
• Expecting a bank-owned or short sale home to be in perfect condition:
  As a general rule, bank-owned and short sale properties are not in pristine condition, seldom even close to it. The home may have been unoccupied for a considerable period of time or the persons living in the home as the process dragged on had little incentive to keep it is pristine condition.
  
  If you want a "move in ready" home that needs no work of any kind, a bank-owned or short sale is unlikely to be the right avenue for you to use to find the home you want
  

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