Last Updated June 14, 2022
We’ve talked a lot already about how competitive Bend and Eugene’s markets are for buyers. Inventory is super low and getting lower, and prices are sky-high and getting higher. Even if you can afford a home here, you’re most likely going to be in competition with at least a couple other buyers – and maybe ten, fifteen, twenty or even more.
So, what does it take to make an offer that’s appealing to a seller? Offer price is a big part of it (no surprise there) but there are a multitude of other considerations. What process do you need to go through in order to be in a position to make a winning offer? What are the widgets that can push your offer over the top? And what kind of extra footwork can your agent do to help make sure the seller’s agent is in your court?
This is a big discussion, so Kip and Ryan will cover all the bases over our next two episodes. When you’re in a competitive offer situation, no detail is too small. Don’t worry, though – we’ll give you an overview of just about everything you need to consider.
Voiceover:
Ladies and gentlemen, strap on your seat belts and hold on to your kombuchas. It’s time to get ready for the Real Estate Revolution.
Kip Lohr:
Hello everybody, and welcome back to this week’s episode of The Real Estate Revolution. I am Kip Lohr, your host with LOHR Real Estate, and it is official – I have introduced him in weeks past as our guest host. And you know what, you’re not a guest host, you are a co host – Ryan Neal from our office in Eugene. I’d love to say “sunny Eugene,” but it’s raining out there right now. So how are you doing this week, Ryan?
Ryan Neal:
Fantastic. We did get some much needed sun over the weekend, spent some time outdoors. And you know, it’s really revitalized me.
Kip Lohr:
Well, that’s great. And we are getting some much needed precipitation now. So, for this week’s show, we are going to talk about how to buy in a seller’s market. And we’re going to go through some strategies, some things to know. We’re going to give a reality check to you buyers out there. But before we get into all of that, those of you who been listening to our show for the last several weeks, we do a market report. It’s a weekly market report, kind of an in-the-moment, what’s going on right now in the real estate market in the Eugene/Springfield and Bend/Redmond areas. And so, Ryan, I’m going to let you take that and run with it.
Ryan Neal:
All right. How about we start with Eugene this time? So, in the second week of February, inventory dropped slightly further in Eugene. There were 57 pending sales compared to 52 new listings, so slightly more on the buyer side than seller side in terms of activity. Overall, both buyer and seller activity are up a little bit year over year. So maybe the promise of interest rate hikes coming soon has something to do with that. There could be a little bit of FOMO going on in terms of people wanting to take advantage of these rates while they’re still low. So, the effect is that right now, there are only 104 residential properties currently active in Eugene The properties that are active have a median list price of $523,000. So this is the same trend we were seeing last week where properties on the lower end of Eugene’s market are selling faster than these higher end properties. And, you know, that’s bringing up the median price for the properties that are available right now here in February. So far, we’ve had 51 homes sell in Eugene, at a median price of $439,000. So again, those sales that we are seeing are kind of trending toward the lower end of the market. In Springfield, we also saw that buyer activity was higher than seller activity in the second week of February, with 28 pending sales compared to 24 new listings. In Springfield as a whole, there are only 32 properties currently active. And that translates to just over a week of inventory. You know, we talk a lot about how low inventory is in Eugene. But it’s actually even worse in Springfield. Prices are lower there. However, both sales and pending sales hit a median of $415,000 in our latest data. So Bend – Bend’s numbers represent a continuation of what we saw last week where prices were kind of unbelievably high; they were going up quite a bit. And somehow, they’ve ratcheted up even further. I had to double-check our numbers because I just couldn’t believe what I’m seeing. But they check out. 63 properties went pending the second week of February with a median list price of $788,000. So to put that number in context, January’s median sale price was $690,000. And that was tying a record high in Bend. So, it’s pretty incredible appreciation that we’re seeing right now. Buyer activity in Bend is significantly higher right now than seller activity. And we’re down to 119 properties currently active in Bend. So in Redmond, buying activity is just as strong, though obviously prices aren’t quite so high as they are in Bend. There were 34 pending sales listed at a median $499,000. So that puts sale prices probably in line with what we saw last month in Redmond. So to summarize, what we’re seeing in Redmond, as well as in Eugene and Springfield is that more properties in the lower and lower-middle end of the market are selling, and higher end homes aren’t going quite as fast. In Bend, there’s significant activity at higher price points, and it’s really driving up the whole market. So far, appreciation in Bend is exceeding our wildest expectations. We’ll see if that trend continues and Bend’s market gets even more out-of-reach for your average or even well above-average buyer. That’s it for our weekly market update. So let’s continue with the main part of our show, where we’ll have some tips for buyers.
Kip Lohr:
Welcome back, welcome back. I’m Kip Lohr with LOHR Real Estate. You are listening to the Real Estate Revolution podcast. I have Ryan Neal, my co-host in the studio today with our Eugene real estate office. How are you doing?
Ryan Neal:
Great, Kip, great to be here.
Kip Lohr:
I’m excited about this week’s episode. And in full disclosure, we are anticipating this episode will probably be two episodes. It’s a big topic – how to buy in a seller’s market. And, you know, can you believe that this is the sixth consecutive year that we’ve had a seller’s market?
Ryan Neal:
Well, I think you know, all of us who have been in the Eugene and Bend areas have seen home prices going up. So yes, it’s, it’s pretty believable. I mean, we all know that in 2008, the big recession happened, and housing prices plummeted. In our local markets, they plummeted moreso in Bend than they did in Eugene. But it took a little while for the housing market to start to regain some of the steam that it had lost. You know, basically, we’re seeing since 2016, we’ve had significant appreciation year-over-year, higher than the national average in both communities.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah. And we’ve seen a huge increase in demand, and the supply has just not been able to keep up. And so, you know, typically, that’s one of the definitions, or one of the causes of it being a seller’s market. You know, with the low interest rates, it encourages more buyers to get out there and buy. And obviously, inventory is low. But, you know, I think it’s also important to talk about some of the reasons that we’re seeing that inventory not be able to catch up with the amount of demand. And I’ve seen kind of a lack of motivation from sellers to put their homes on the market. Is that what you’re seeing in Eugene?
Ryan Neal:
Well, definitely. I mean, it’s really this vicious circle where inventory is low, so sellers are afraid that they’re not going to be able to find replacement properties if they’re trying to, you know, trade up or downsize in the same community that they’re going to sell their home in. So that’s really discouraging people from putting their homes on the market. And because these sellers who would want to move otherwise aren’t putting their homes on the market, there’s less inventory, and it’s just, it’s a cycle.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah. And then on the converse side, we’re seeing, you know, a lot of migration throughout the country and our local communities. Here in Oregon, we represent Eugene/Springfield, and Bend/Redmond. And we’re seeing a lot of interest in both of those communities from people from out of state. And I think that it’s interesting to see – you know, COVID has allowed remote workers to leave the home towns of their companies and work from anywhere in the country. I think Northern California has seen a lot of fire activity, which has caused a lot of folks to maybe rethink, you know, continuing to live in those communities. And they’re seeing some of our areas here in Oregon as being a little less smoky. It was pretty smoky last year.
Ryan Neal:
We had a perfect storm of different factors that led to some pretty significant wildfires in Oregon in the fall of 2020.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah, yeah. So, and obviously, with our political climate here, nationally, people are kind of realigning, depending on what their political persuasions are. So, you know, that creates some of that push/pull between the supply and demand. And what I’d like to do is talk a little bit, we want to give buyers a little bit of a reality checkand talk about some of the things that nobody wants to talk about. You know, “We’re excited about buying a house, and we’ll go out there and find one and buy.” But, there are definitely some realities right now in this market for buyers that they need to be aware of as they’re rolling into this year and getting ready to get out in the market. And I think one of the things is that interest rates are are going up. They, you know, the Fed has talked about it, and we talked abou thatt in previous episodes, but if it shoots up, that’s definitely a reality check for people. Would you agree?
Ryan Neal:
I’d certainly agree. I mean, I feel like the bottom line, you know, is that there’s basically these two different factors that we’ve been harping on as long as I can remember. I really feel like a broken record, you know, just continuing to bring up that we have very low inventory. And we have significant appreciation in both of our markets. And, you know, the consequence of appreciation is that if you’re a buyer, then your buying power is just that much less and it’s getting less and less year after year. And there are different factors that are going into that. I mean, we’re seeing, you know, this kind of general widespread inflation, it’s not just the housing market, but basically speaking, you know, say you have $400,000 to spend on a home, that $400,000 is just going to get you a lot less than it would have even, you know, just one or two years ago,
Kip Lohr:
Right. And when, you know, you’re getting qualified for a loan, they base that on your debt-to-income ratio. Front end and back end is what they talk about in the industry. And, you know, revolving debt is one of the qualifying factors for the back end ratio, but those don’t speak to utility bills going up because of inflation, your cell phone bill going up, gas prices going up, food prices going up. So even if, you know, from an on-paper standpoint, you can qualify for fill-in-the-blank price point or mortgage payment, you’ve got to take into account that you’re, you know – how much money you have to play with every month is becoming more and more difficult, because of inflation. So I think that people need to look at their entire budget, not just what their house payments are going to be moving forward, before they hop into the market. And, you know, the other thing is, you’re just going to overpay today. There are no deals to be had out there. You know, everybody wants to get a deal. And there are no deals, are there?
Ryan Neal:
Well, the possible exception is that if you have the wherewithal and the connections to be able to take on a fixer-upper. You know, particularly in Eugene’s market, we see a lot of fixer-uppers come onto the market, and some of them do sit on the market for a while. And, you know, when that’s the case, it becomes more compelling to a seller to you know, accept a below list price offer. So, there are some deals to be had. But you know, typically these properties that are sitting on the market, even in Eugene, they’re just problem homes. You know, even if you have the contracting background, the wherewithal to be able to take on a project, there’s usually a pretty good reason that, you know, nobody wants to touch these homes with a 10 foot stick.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah. And it’s also not uncommon that, you know, sellers start out a little bit optimistic on price, right. So they’ve essentially, even in a seller’s market, kind of priced themselves a little bit too high. And once they sit on the market a few weeks, because they’re just, you know, the price is too high, there’s another opening there as buyers to maybe get it a little bit under where they could have purchased it for if the seller just started out with the right sales price. That’s certainly the case. Yep. And compromise – you’re going to have to compromise, right?
Ryan Neal:
So, we’re going to be bringing up the “C” word, you know, quite a bit as we continue our show. You know, we’re talking about a seller’s market, and we’re talking about a ton of competition, high prices, multiple offer situations. So compromise is kind of the name of the game and, you know, as a buyer, that’s a pretty big part of the equation. You know, where are you willing to compromise? And what are the features where it simply doesn’t make sense for you to consider different kinds of properties?
Kip Lohr:
Yeah, exactly. And I guess. finally, the final reality check for buyers is that prices aren’t going to come down anytime soon. You know, we talk to people, and I’m constantly amazed by people that have any sort of thought like, “Well, should I just wait a few months? Should I wait a year, and are pricec is going to start dropping?” You know, they hear that there might be a real estate bubble, and they read online that, you know, the economy’s doing this, that or the other thing, and they feel like, well, maybe this bubble is gonna pop, maybe we’re just close enough to the Great Recession that people think, well, maybe we’re going to see significant downward pressure on prices, and you don’t think that’s going to happen, do you?
Ryan Neal:
I think one of the things that people often fail to take completely into account is that yeah, I think people understand that the housing markets in the Eugene area and the Bend/Redmond area are extremely constricted, but I think people don’t necessarily understand just how insanely constricted they are. So in Eugene, you know, in the month of January, inventory hit a record low of 0.4 months, and in Bend, it was close to a record low, at 0.6 months through the month of January. And that’s just insanely low. So even if, you know, we do see some interest rate increases. And, you know, there are some buyers who – as prices are also going up, some buyers are moving to different, less expensive markets, instead of looking for homes here.
Kip Lohr:
And more who are just completely priced out of the market at this point.
Ryan Neal:
Yeah, yeah. Even if that’s the case, it’s just not going to be enough to significantly tip the scale in a direction where we can even start to think about prices going down.
Kip Lohr:
Right. Yeah. And to put it in context, a normal market has six months of inventory in it. So, you know, well, that’s not even a normal market. What we would consider a low inventory market is below six months. And so, when we start talking about less than a week, or less than two weeks of inventory – you know, we talked about vacancy rates and that being less than, you know, 1%. It’s the same with prices or inventory – it’s that there’s just no inventory. And, you know, especially this time of year, it’s so low that, barring the, you know, zombie apocalypse, there’s just no realistic hope of prices moving downward anytime soon. And so, if you’re hoping you can wait six months, or hoping you could wait even a year to get a little bit better price, you’re going to end up the opposite, where you’ll probably see a 15% increase in prices year-over-year for 2022. So, you know, the sooner that you get into a home – you’re getting the best price today.
Ryan Neal:
That makes sense. Yeah. And I think it isn’t necessarily difficult to understand that, you know, in today’s market, you’re going to have to overpay, and there’s really no relief in sight. But kind of the next sticking point is – how are you going to get into a home period? Right? Competition is so stiff – if so many offers are coming in on individual properties, and it’s become more complicated than ever. You know, the traditional wisdom is that, particularly if you’re an all-cash buyer, if you’re able to put more money on the table than other buyers are, then you’re probably going to win the day. But it’s simply not that simple anymore. In today’s market, it’s not enough.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. And essentially, that’s segueing us into what this episode is about, you know, how are we going to get you across the finish line. And we’re going to get into the granular here, we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty. And so we’re going to be pretty thorough in this analysis, I’m going to warn you up front. And hopefully, you’ll learn something along the way. But I think buyers take it for granted that, you know, all they need to do is start looking online, find a house that seems interesting to them, and then go out and buy it. And they don’t understand the process from A to Z. And so what we’re going to do today is kind of walk you through each part of the process with the idea that to be competitive, there needs to be no detail too small, and to be 100% prepared, so that when you get to the point of writing an offer, then you’ve got all the i’s dotted and T’s crossed, and you create a lot of confidence in that listing agent and seller that you are the offer that they want to pick, because you have left no detail too small, because you’ve considered all the different things. And so, let’s start out with – how much can you afford? I think it doesn’t serve you to just start looking at properties without having a conversation with a lender. Would you agree with that?
Ryan Neal:
Yeah, certainly. I mean, you know, it’s fairly natural as a buyer to have a kind of general sense of, okay, this is what my income is, this is how much maybe I’m currently, you know, paying for a mortgage or for rent. And this is, you know, kind of what I want to pay, say a home in the $400,000 range, a home in the $500,000 range. I think that’s about what I want to pay for a home. But really, there are just so many other more minute considerations that have to go into that calculus of determining – how much how much can I pay for a home?
Kip Lohr:
Yeah, and one of the reasons that you want to get that out of the way right out of the gate is you don’t want to create excitement around a particular home, or a particular price point of homes, and then discover that you’re $100,000 off of what you really can do, because that is a huge difference in neighborhood and home that you can buy. It’s between a $400,000 home or a $500,000 home, or an $800,000 home and a $900,000 home. So, you know, it’s really important to get with a lender right out of the gate so that when you do get on the interwebs and start looking at Zillow or realtor.com at homes, that you know that you’ve got a shot at them. And, you know, I think the next thing that you really need to come ot terms with is your wish list. Don’t you think?
Ryan Neal:
Yeah, I mean, it’s so easy to go online, to go to Zillow or to realtor.com and just start looking at homes and you know, you can you can actually start to identify okay, this is what I like about this home. This is what I’m, you know, not so hot on, and these are maybe the factors which, you know, I’m just crossing this home right off my list. You can start doing that, and that’s actually a pretty helpful process. That’s a pretty helpful thing to do no matter where you are in your process.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah, and I think this is where our next – where the word compromise comes into play here is that the bucket list is great. But what that often does is it it makes you not consider homes that pop up that you should consider. I have found over the years that the decision-making process really comes from your guts. You’re going to walk in the front door, no ifs, right. And you may have a long laundry list of things that you think make the home right for you. And maybe none of those end up becoming the important decision-making factor. And particularly with low inventory, you can’t afford to miss out on any opportunity. And so what we recommend in this market is, barring a neighborhood that you know you don’t want to live in – you don’t want to live up against, you know, the I-5 corridor, you don’t want to live in a particular part of town. Or, you want to have a lot that you can garden on, so probably, living in the South Hills is not going to work out for you as far as gardening. But, you know, for the most part, we want you to look at everything that comes on the market, because there’s going to be so few homes at your price point in the first place. Would you agree?
Ryan Neal:
Yeah. You brought up, Kip, that this is a process that’s really happening on a gut level. And I think that’s a really important point that I want to kind of linger on for a bit, because, you know, online listings, particularly if a property is well photographed and maybe includes a virtual tour, you know, you can get a pretty decent sense of what a property is about in many ways. But what you’re really missing out on is the experience of walking into the front door and just experiencing yourself in that physical space and really starting to visualize – this is what it could look like, this is what it could feel like if this was my home. And that’s something that you’re just missing out on if you’re exclusively looking at online listings. So, you know, this is really the first place in this whole process which really involves a real estate agent. It’s certainly good to be working with a real estate agent, because we’re getting you into different properties, and a lot of the time, I think people are a little bit too hesitant. You know, they want to have some assurance that a property is really maybe for them before they’re going to call us up and ask to get into a house. But really, it’s our job to get you into as many different properties as possible. And like you’re talking about Kip, the kind of wider your parameters are for that, the more you’re going to learn about what you actually want in a home, what you really don’t want, and where you’re maybe willing to compromise. So when it comes time to start to get more serious about the process and start to think about writing offers, you just have a whole lot more data points, you know, to base your decision making upon.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah, 100%. And I think that that’s a starting place to talk about our agency relationships with our clients. So in real estate, we have what’s called an agency relationship, with the buyer’s agent or a seller’s agent. We do allow dual agency in the state of Oregon, but it’s a situation where both the buyer and seller have to agree to that agency relationship. And essentially, when you’re looking on realtor.com, you’re looking at a home that is listed by a listing agent who is working exclusively for the seller and is obligated to work for the best interest of that seller. And so when you call them up to get into that house, they are working for the best interest of the seller. So imagine for a second a situation where you’re an agent who is trying to get the seller, the highest price and the buyer the lowest price. Now, does that sound possible? Does it sound like something that really can work out? And in most cases, the answer to that question is “No.” And so, you know, it makes sense to have an agent who is working for your best interest exclusively and who also gets to know you and can help, you know, be an advisor through the process from start to finish. And I mean, don’t you agree with that?
Ryan Neal:
Yeah. So I think, you know, looking at the way that buyers today are purchasing, are going about the home buying process, a lot of the time we’re seeing situations where, you know, a buyer has been looking at online listings for a significant amount of time and maybe attending open houses on the weekend. And, you know, they do this for a while, they go to an open house and then they think oh yeah, this is this is a property that I want to put an offer on. And because they’re not working with an agent, oftentimes the first place that they’re going to go to is the listing agent. You know, their phone number is on the property sign in front of the house and you know, maybe they’re at the open house, you know, kind of showing people around the property. So it feels like the most straightforward thing to do. But there are all kinds of disadvantages which go along with the approaching it like that.
Kip Lohr:
Right. And what we’re going to line out today is, all of these details are driven by someone who is an advocate for what it is that you’re trying to do, that is going to create relationships for you with other industry professionals that are going to be necessary to get this transaction done. And so, you know, I often use the term “don’t go it alone.” You know, I understand the reluctance of folks early in the process to want to kind of work out some of their own kinks before they have a conversation with an agent. But if the very first thing that you need to do is start working with a lender to determine even where to start price point-wise, it’s good to have somebody who can make recommendations of our trusted local mortgage brokers in the community who will be a good member of the team and represent your best interest. And so it all starts – I guess it’s about relationships, isn’t it?
Ryan Neal:
Completely. At the end of the day, a real estate transaction isn’t just between the buyer and the seller. There are all kinds of different people who are contributing to that process in order to make it possible. And, you know, each individual piece can, you know, basically own their part of the transaction. And that’s going to create a smooth experience for everyone. And, you know, there’s going to be a happy ending.
Kip Lohr:
Yeah. There’s never been a time when having a team of professionals in your corner has been more important and literally can mean the difference between, you know, success or failure in purchasing homes. So, you know, really your real estate agent, your Realtor is the quarterback of that team and coordinates all the efforts of the other real estate professionals in the transaction. And so, you know, who are those team members?
Ryan Neal:
Yes, we’ve already talked about lenders, preferably a local lender who is embedded in the community and who is respected by the local real estate community, and who the seller can count on to help you perform your end of the bargain. Other than that, we also have to talk about the escrow and title company. Every single real estate transaction is closed through an escrow and title company. There are a number of examples. We won’t name specific names, but, you know, basically the escrow agent is going to be the point person for handling the more, I guess you would say, legal side of the transaction. The escrow and title team is making sure that the title of the property properly and legally conveys to the future owner who is you, right, so it’s very important that they have all their ducks in a row, and also that they’re communicating both with you and the seller and their agents in order to make sure that there aren’t any misunderstandings that are potentially throwing a wrench in that process.
Kip Lohr:
Right. And, you know, these title companies also ensure that there are no clouds on the title. And I have examples in my real estate career where we have had things be missed, and cause, you know, problems down the road for clients. And so, theoretically, these title companies are, you know, issuing a title policy that will ensure that these titles are clean, but they don’t always get it right. And even though you have a title insurance policy, it’s an arduous process. If they miss something, it’s just really important that that particular part of the team really has their ducks in a row and really is good at what they do. And, you know, for you folks out there who are looking to relocate from out of area, for instance, you know, setting up remote closings, you know, remote signings and making sure that all the documents arrive on time, that they’re in the proper order, and they’ve set up a mobile notary. I mean, there’s just a lot of moving parts. And you know, it’s imperative to make sure that all of those ducks are in a row and that you’ve got a good partner in that arena in a title and escrow company. I think also, one of the parts of the process that’s really important is once you’re in contract, you have a very tight window for your inspection contingency. And, you know, I think you would agree, Ryan, that having multiple trusted inspectors, you know, referral partners that we can hand our clients to is is super important, particularly in this market.
Ryan Neal:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, so what’s happening in the market right now is that a lot of people are going into contract with these incredibly tight windows as far as getting the inspections done. So the basic default has been 10 business days in which to complete inspections and the negotiations that are related to the results of the inspection. But nowadays, properties are just moving faster and faster. And people are often going with a seven business day inspection contingency, or even a five business day inspection contingency. So there’s that much more pressure on inspectors to, you know, get on people’s schedules sooner and sooner. And as a result, it’s creating quite a bit of backup, where you don’t want to just have one inspector who you’re trying to get on their schedule, because that might be full for the next two weeks. So, you know, you really need to have multiple contacts in the community. But at the same time, not all inspectors are created equal. You know, it’s possible to have a very different experience with one inspector in terms of, first of all, are they filling out their reports in a way that is thorough and easy to understand. And second of all, and more importantly, are they missing things that could potentially be a big liability later on. So really, trust is huge when it comes to inspectors.
Kip Lohr:
That’s right. And, you know, here again, back to relationships.. You know, we’re going to talk about compromise, we’re going to talk about relationships, and you don’t want to compromise on the relationships. And here again, your agent, your real estate agent is the quarterback of the transaction, and they are going to have recommendations for trusted professionals in the community. And here again, you need to have more than one or two, because often the schedules are too full. You know, above and beyond that, you also need to have licensed contractor, referral partners who are ready to do additional inspections if something comes up on an inspection report that needs additional professionals opinions. And so, a home inspector is going to give you a broad-spectrum look at the condition of the home. But they are not a licensed contractor. And so when it comes to specific recommendations for additional concerns or repair strategies, they are going to make a recommendation that you have a roofing contractor look at a roof if they suspect there’s an issue. Or they may make a recommendation that you have an HVAC professional come and do an additional inspection on the heating and air conditioning system if they suspect something is wrong. And, you know, in the Eugene/Springfield area, it is not uncommon to have some varying degrees of foundation issues with older homes here in town. So you’re going to need to have a engineer in your back pocket who can come out in a reasonable amount of time and be able to make recommendations on repairs. So I guess the takeaway here with contractors is here, again, it’s relationships. You don’t want to wait until something comes up on the inspection report to then go try to find, you know, through the Yellow Pages somebody to come out and and make a bid on an HVAC system. You want to know that your real estate professional has got that already in their back pocket, somebody who they can call who they trust who is going to be able to come out in a timely fashion and be able to make those recommendations. Because here again, the inspection contingency window is so narrow these days. So having that ready to go ahead of time here again adds confidence for the seller or the listing agent to take your offer over another buyer’s offer that maybe doesn’t have the same sort of detail- oriented connections with these these professionals. Would you agree?
Ryan Neal:
I’d certainly agree. You know, when we’re talking about what we are bringing to the table as real estate agents and why you should work with an agent, why you should have an agent representing you, this is a big factor. You know, it’s not just about what we do. It’s also about what lenders do, what the escrow team does, what the inspectors do. And by providing you with these connections, you know, we’re laying the groundwork for you to be able to make a successful offer because that is definitely something that a seller is going to be looking for. They’re going to want to make sure as much as they possibly can that you’ve got all your ducks in a row, particularly as far as being able to perform on the loan, you know, to be able to receive financing and close the sale, and you know, all of these different parts are key to this process, and they all give the seller extra assurance that, you know, you’re a trustworthy buyer, you’re someone that they should accept over other buyers.
Kip Lohr:
That’s right. And, you know, because sellers typically are going to receive multiple offers on their homes, they can cut the hair pretty fine. You know, they can split hairs pretty fine in making a decision of whose offer they’re going to accept. So it gets down to very fine details between buyers’ offers and the ability to create the confidence in that seller that you can get the job done. And so, I think it’s really important to, here again, make sure that there’s no detail too small, that we’ve worked ahead to be able to instill that confidence. So, you know, Ryan, I think, let’s take a break. That way, we can wrap this up in next week’s episode and hopefully dive into what it actually takes to craft a winning offer.
Ryan Neal:
Sounds fantastic.
Kip Lohr:
Sounds good?
Ryan Neal:
Alright.
Kip Lohr:
Alright. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to The Real Estate Revolution Podcast. I am Kip Lohr, your host with LOHR Real Estate. And we have sadly come to the end of this, well almost come to the end of this week’s episode. But we’re not going to leave you hanging. We are going to end this episode with another episode of Kip’s Tips. This week’s tip is – which search engine should you use to search for properties? And that is a trick question. And I’ll explain. So number one, all search engines for real estate properties are drawing from the same databases. And so there was a time where some of these search engines updated their information more often than others. So there were some like Zillow that got their information a little bit sooner than, say, Realtor.com. But nowadays, most of the search sites all update in about the same amount of time. So really, they’re on par with one another. And so one of the considerations is – use the one that is most user-friendly for you. They are all different formats. And sometimes it’s just a function of, I started out with Zillow, and I got used to their format and I understand their systems. So it’s really easy for me to get in there and search for what I want to do. You might try a few different ones and find that the format and the way that they’re put together are just more user friendly to you, than you know, another person. And so really, the most important thing in my opinion is find the one that is the most intuitive as far as its user experience for you. And when you’re sending information to your real estate agent about homes that you’d like to see, most of the sites are pretty easy at forwarding particular properties to anybody who you’d like to forward them to. So the short answer to the question is, it’s got to be user friendly for you. So it’s all about you, baby. Anyway, that’s all we’ve got for this week. Thanks again for joining us on The Real Estate Revolution podcast and we will see you next week.
Voiceover:
Thank you for joining the Revolution. We are over and out until next week. We will continue to fill you in on all that matters most in our local Bend and Eugene real estate scenes. See you next time on the Real Estate Revolution.
Further reading
When Will the Housing Market Crash (and Housing Prices Drop) in Oregon?
Eugene Seller’s Agents: How to Know Who’s Best for You
The Ultimate Bend, Oregon Relocation Guide
Eugene Oregon Relocation: The Ultimate Guide
Best Places to Live in Oregon: Bend vs. Eugene
Tips for First-Time Home Buyers in Oregon
Looking to Retire in Bend, Oregon? Here’s What to Consider.
Looking to Retire in Eugene, Oregon? Here’s What to Consider.
Best Neighborhoods in Bend Oregon: Our Definitive List
Best Neighborhoods in Eugene Oregon: Our Definitive List