How to buy a house in 2021
The housing market in the Portland Metro areas as well as in the Vancouver metro areas are tough ones right now. With little inventory and abundant buyers wanting to purchase a place to call home, this is driving record high sales across the pacific north west. This guide will help you be successful when purchasing your next home.
Who you hire matters. Working with a local agent that is seasoned and knowledgable in the neighborhoods you’d like to move into is crucial when deciding to buy (or sell) a home. Many agents boast about working all over the state, and while that may be beneficial to their business, it’s not beneficial to meeting your needs, and ultimately, your goals. Hire someone that is available when you are, that works harder than anyone else and will see the job through from start to finish. Here are some questions to ask your next agent when interviewing them to ensure the fit is right:
What are your working hours? When can I expect to get ahold of you? What is your dedicated response time?
How do you best communicate with your clients? Do you prefer email, calls or texts (and does this method align with your preferred method)?
How have you helped others in this market and how have you achieved success while navigating these market conditions? New agents are going to be hungry for business. Ensuring that you, the client, are wanting the home more than your agent wants it for you (commission breath) is critical. Ultimately, your needs MUST come first in this relationship.
How do you approach the tough conversations? Are you a direct communicator and if not, what is your communication style?
How long have you been in the real estate industry? What are your biggest accomplishments and what are you currently working on to improve?
Why are you purchasing (or selling) now? This is a question I always ask my clients as this helps me to best serve them. Without a big WHY, it’s tough to navigate the motivation behind buying or selling a home — especially in this market. If you want to move, I’ll tell you its probably not the best time to do so. If you NEED to move (school district, job relocation, neighborhood safety, etc) then it’s a great time to enter the market. Recognizing the needs vs wants of home buying and selling is very important and you should have this conversation openly with your agent.
Hire an agent! When buying a home, agent representation is free to you. The buyers agent is paid by the seller to deliver a buyer to them, so having this expertise won’t cost you a dime. This expert insight will ensure that you’re purchasing a safe home and making a solid investment. Owning real estate is more than having a place to lay your head at night (though that’s a big part), it’s the first step toward acquiring generational wealth and improving your financial situation. Think of your home as your high yield savings account. This can be tapped into later down the road to improve the property, finance future purchases or just accumulate wealth. Your agent can analyze all of this info and help to ensure that you’re making a good investment in both yourself and your future.
If you have more questions, need advice or simply have some insights, please reach out to me. I’d be happy to help in any area that I can. Please, feel free to utilize my website here to search for homes, schedule a meeting or continue to learn about buying and selling real estate in Portland, Vancouver, and surrounding areas. No job is too big or small, and I’d be honored to be your guide.