Real Estate: Serial shopper or serious home buyer?
Posted by 
Al Filippone Associates on Wednesday, July 1, 2009
“It’s a buyers market! It’s a buyers market!”…is all we are hearing these days….and yes real estate opportunities abound like never before…So…where are all the offers from all these buyers?
Homeowners selling their homes in today’s real estate market would save themselves a lot of time and energy if they could learn to separate the serial shoppers from the serious buyers. So how do you know that the folks viewing your home during a public open house or the couple coming back with their agent for the 3rd time are going to make an offer?
Here are some helpful hints to help you and your real estate agent determine whether they are shoppers or buyers.
A serial shopper: May or may not be represented by an agent
A serious buyer: Usually is exclusively represented by an agent
A serial shopper: Loves to visit open houses on the weekends and may give false contact info on the sign in sheet.
A serious buyer: Will have a motivation to buy such as a relocation due to a new job, change in personal status such as marriage, divorce, birth of a child, want/need to be closer to family
A serial shopper: All of a sudden disappears or goes quiet…does not return phone calls or emails promptly
A serious buyer: Has their mortgage pre-approval completed, a lender on board and an attorney on retainer
A serial shopper: Looks and looks and looks, says your house is the house of their dreams, they definitely want it, BUT, they have to sell their house before they can bid on yours.
A serious buyer: Asks more relevant and pertinent questions about the property: When were the mechanicals updated?, What is the general cost of utilities, When was the most recent tax assessment? Whose your landscaper?..and then they linger and linger and linger!!
A serial shopper: “lobs in” a verbal offer without committed paperwork to “feel out” the seller
A serious buyer: Will look you in the eye, smile and say “our agent will be contacting your agent shortly”and then back it up with a written offer.
