Last month, I helped a client buy just the right house. By staying on top of the particular market he was interested in, I was able to get him into the perfect house that would have otherwise been bought by one of a half dozen other buyers (literally - more on that later) in the first week it was on the market.

After working with this client for a few weeks, we had narrowed it down to a handful of specific subdivisions that he was interested in. So, I did what many Realtors might do, set up a search for those areas and the other criteria that met his needs so that we would both be notified when new listings came on the market in those areas. One morning when a received a notification of new listings, one caught my eye that normally wouldn’t have. The reason I say that is because the listing did not yet have any pictures. Listings without pictures are passed up by the majority buyers and Realtors. And rightfully so, because a lot of the time if there aren’t any pictures, the house is ugly. But, the description noted some recent upgrades to the house, such as granite in the kitchen, new backsplash, paint, etc. So, I researched it a little further and found that this house had been on the market about a year earlier at a slightly higher price, but without the upgrades. And, the pictures of the previous listing were available to me as a Realtor. So, I called my client and asked him if he’d seen the new listing in the email notification that he had received that morning. He said he had, but since there were no pictures he had not called me about it. He had thought he would wait for the pictures to show up to decide if it was worth a look. I told him about the previous listing and emailed him the pictures from that listing. From those pictures and the description of the upgrades, he decided that it was probably worth a look. I told him that if the upgrades were done well, that I thought this could potentially be a great house for him and also fairly priced. I said that since it was Thursday, if the pictures showed up in the next day or two they would probably get a lot of traffic over the weekend and might sell it. He agreed and we made plans to see the house that night.

Well, my hunch was right and the house was beautiful and well priced. My client decided that he wanted the house. So, I wrote up an offer and we submitted it the next morning. We negotiated quickly and got an executed contract later that day. As we neared the closing date, my client mentioned that he had kept up with new listings in the area and had not seen any homes that even came close to this one. The day before closing, I was speaking to the listing agent and asked her if they had had much interest in this home since they got a contract on it the second day it was on the market. She told me that not only had there been a lot of interest, but she had names and numbers of six Realtors that wanted her to call them if our deal fell through! The next day at closing, one of those six Realtors called her to check the status of the deal.

This shows how important it is for buyers to keep apprised of the market once they know the area in which they want to live, and to take extra steps to stay one step ahead of other interested buyers. The best homes always sell quickly, in any market. That is especially true if they are priced right. And, that is why I stay on top of the market for my buyers. It always feels good when I help a client buy a home that they love. But, there is nothing that compares to the feeling you get when you know that it is a home that everyone wanted and that you wouldn’t have gotten it for your client if you hadn’t made an extra effort and acted with a sense of urgency to stay a few steps head of other buyers.