A buyers market occurs when there are a larger number of houses on the market than there are buyers.  In this market, homes stay on the market longer and the average days on the market increases.  Purchasing in this market is extremely advantageous for buyers and below are some ways in which buyers can benefit.

1. Request E-Mail Listings & Updates

80% of purchasers do their property research online.  What buyers don't realize is that the online information is often outdated (the property has either sold or has an accepted offer).  To prevent this from happening and to save yourself some time, ask your realtor to set you up on an automatic email system where any new listings that fit your criteria and budget will automatically be sent to you as soon as they hit the market. 

2. Review Price Reductions

If you are like most buyers, you will want to offer purchase a property below asking price and often in a buyers market, buyers write low-ball offers.  Before you write a low-ball offer, look at how many days the home has been on the market.  If the home has been on the market for less than 30 days, writing a low-ball offer may not be worthwhile.  However, if the home has been on the market for after 30 days, writing a low-ball offer will often test the seller on their motivation to sell their home.

3. Obtain Comparable Sales

Once you have found a home that you like, get your realtor to print off the comparable sales, actives, and expireds for the last 6 months.  The comparables should be similar in:

• Square footage
• Location
• Upgrades
• Age
• View
• Bedrooms and Bathrooms
• Price

Take these comparables and place them side by side to your desired home for an accurate comparison.

4. Have Subjects

Subjects are the conditions that the realtor places to protect the purchaser.  They usually include subject to inspection, financing, property disclosure statement, title search, and two years of minutes of you are purchasing a condo.  In this market, the buyer has all the control.  You can also request reasonable time to review and approve the subjects before moving forward. 

5. Ask for an Allowance or Credit

If you do not like the carpets or the paint color, you could ask for a credit or an allowance to compensate you for some of the expenses you will incur once you move into the home.  In a buyers market, the buyer has all the control so take advantage of that.

6. Reduce Your Closing Costs

Similarily, you could ask the seller to take care of some of your closing costs in a buyers market.  When you close on a property, you will be required to pay property tax and legal fees.  You may be able to have some of these costs reimbursed depending on how desperate the seller is to sell their unit.

7. Renegotiate After Home Inspections

All buyers should get home inspections.  During a home inspection, the inspector will provide the buyer with a report which will identify the deficiencies within the unit.  These deficiencies may be minor or they may be substantial.  If the deficiencies are minor, you can renegotiate your contract after the inspection.  For example, if the sink is leaking or the dishwasher does not work, you can request that the seller have these items fixed before completion date or have them compensate you monetarily. 

8. Ask for an Item You Don't Want

You, the purchaser, may like the chandelier in the living room, or the window coverings in the bedroom and ask your realtor to include it in the purchase price.  You could use this as a negotiating tactic.  For example, you could include those items in the purchase price and if the seller refuses to let go of those items, you may be able to reduce the purchase price with the seller as a way to let go of those items you really wanted as part of the purchase.

9. Shorten Acceptance Period

There is no reason why a seller needs anymore than 24 hours for acceptance unless the sellers is out of the country.  This will pressure the seller to make a decision quickly so that they don't lose the potential purchaser.