Holden Lewis, Naldowlett
Do you want to be a successful homebuyer this spring and summer? Whether your market is hot or cool, act decisively and quickly.
This is advice from real estate agents in Boston (a market where buyers sell in the heat over rare homes) and from Dallas (a market where competition is cooler than it doesn’t get too crazy).
Even the housing market has been recovering, with sales pace still slowing. In 2025, around 4 million existing homes will be sold, with about half of which will be changed from April to August.
In the five years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, demand has exceeded supply in most housing markets. That imbalance still exists in hotter markets in most of New England, the Midwest and California. The shortage has been (but not) alleviated in some cities, particularly in Florida, Texas, the Gulf Coast and the Pacific Northwest. These are cooler markets.
Real Estate Agent Advice This home buying season is consistent regardless of local market temperature. Treat searches like work. You will be approved in advance for your mortgage.
And don’t forget that the desired home will be faster.
The race goes to Swift
“A property ready to move in – jumping out of the market for days on multiple offers,” said Rich Rosa, a buyer agent and co-founder of buyer brokers in the Boston area (one of the hottest markets in the country). According to Realtor.com, homes sold in February have usually been on the market for 33 days, making it one of the fastest metro areas. Nationally, time in the market ranged from 22 days in San Jose to 118 days in Kalispell, Montana.
Kate Ziegler, an Arborview Realty real estate agent in the Boston area, says it’s important to prioritize home hunting on weekends when you’re seriously searching. Relaxation may require you to take the back seat for a job finding a home.
“It’s really important that they’re ready to see things on their first weekend when they’re on the market,” Ziegler says. If you don’t tour the charming home this weekend, she says, it may disappear before you can see it next weekend.
It’s not uncommon for a Boston home to go to the market on Thursday mornings, play multiple shows over the weekend, and sellers request offers by Monday evening. The seller then accepts one of several competing offers. Elapsed time: less than 1 week. You may also find compressed timelines at other hot markets.
Buyers can spend more time in cooler markets such as Dallas Fort Worth. In Dallas, Fort Worth, a typical home appeared in the 56 days it was sold in February. Still, well-maintained properties are sold quickly. “They sell, so they need to jump into a good house,” says Cliff Freeman, a real estate agent at Exp Realty in Dallas.
Get ready and show it to the prepared seller
Whether the seller or buyer is dominant, it is recommended that you get approved in advance for a mortgage when buying a home. Once pre-approved, the lender will receive financial information, including your credit score and income, and will tell you how much you can borrow.
Pre-approval of a mortgage not only shows how much you can afford, but also signals the seller that you roughen your financial statements and that your lender has already assessed your creditworthiness.
Freeman says one of the signs of having an experienced agent is to make sure you talk to the lender. “It’s the best asset you can have, especially for first-time home buyers and second move-up buyers, having a true expert with experience in several types of markets,” he says.
Don’t hang for price
You probably won’t pay the asking price for your next home. If a property attracts multiple offers in the first week or two, it may pay more than the asking price (if the bid is successful). If your home remains in the market for a few weeks without a serious offer, you may pay less than the asking price.
“What I’m telling my clients is not to get too caught up in what the asking price is,” says Rosa. Pricing strategies vary from seller to seller, and all assets vary. Just because one place sells 3% more than the asking price doesn’t mean any other house or other homes.
Experienced agents who understand your local market are also advantageous here.
Hot Markets consider tracking your inspections quickly
Buyers often abandoned real estate inspections in 2020 and 2021, when mortgage rates were low and competitive. Today, most buyers insist on real estate inspections. However, in the fast market, buyers can employ several tactics to soften the seller.
One such tactic is “pre-inspection” where the inspector checks the house before the buyer makes an offer. “So you’re already doing the test, so you’re effectively submitting a ‘clean’ offer without any emergency testing,” Ziegler says.
As an agent, Ziegler says they are trying to avoid preliminary inspections as they may not be that thorough. The buyer then pays the inspector whether they will make an offer at home. The advantage of pre-inspection is that if the offer is accepted, the seller will reassure that this buyer will not return.
In another inspection-related tactic, the buyer promises to pay the repair fee up to the specified amount, instead of expecting the seller to pay all the pennies. Ziegler calls it a partial inspection contingency. The goal is not to give sellers the perception that it is a nickel and dime. “It reduces the risk to buyers and the capturing what they are exposed to,” says Ziegler, but assures the seller that the buyer will not withdraw the offer with minor defects.
However, make sure you get tested at home.
In growing areas, consider a new home
In some cities, new construction could be a surefire option. We are primarily talking about the south and southwest metros where developers build communities of hundreds of new homes. To make your new home affordable, developers often offer incentives such as lowering mortgage interest rates.
“The reality is for first-time home buyers, and perhaps buying a new home is a big decision,” Freeman says.
Freeman takes the real estate agent with him when he first saw the community of his new home. Agents can help you negotiate discounts on mortgage fees or upgraded amenities.
Holden Lewis writes about Nerdwallet. Email: hlewis@nerdwallet.com.
This season, home-being tips for hot and cold in the market originally appeared on Nerdwallet.
Original issue: March 27, 2025, 3:51pm EDT
