How To Set Yourself Up to Successfully Buy a Home in 2022 — An Expert Realtor’s Six Best Tips

This article is part of a promoted series and not produced by the editorial staff.

As we all know, trying to purchase a home in Dallas-Fort Worth has been an arduous experience, to say the least. The minute a home hits the market, your realtor calls and you find some way to get over to see it before another 30 to 40 people do. Most of the time, you are up against multiple offers (sometimes cash), no inspection period, and/or no financing contingency.

What can you do to prepare yourself “to win” the house you’ve been searching for this year? Dallas luxury real estate agent Christy Berry is offering up her expertise with six tips to do just that.

Tip 1: Work with a Real Estate Agent

Many sales are trading off market due to low inventory everywhere. People think that because the homes are “off market” that the seller is not getting the highest price, but this is not usually the case. Buyers realize this and are willing to pay a premium well above asking price.

Tip 2: Be Ready to Move Fast

Homes are trading at lighting speed and usually within the first couple of days of being on the market. Sellers are not wanting to leave their homes for days on end and do not have to with the quickness of the market. Do not think you have three to five days to view it once it hits the market as any good listing will surely already be under contract.

Tip 3: Be Prepared to Offer Over Asking Price

As they say in California, the asking price is just the starting bid. For better or worse, this has slowly become the truth in DFW now too. This typically is the case for move-in ready homes with little interior improvements versus a home that needs a lot of work to fix up.

Tip 4: Have Your Pre-Qualification Letter Ready To Go With a Lender

When an offer is submitted, a pre-qualification letter will need to be submitted with it for the property. This is a one-page sheet that lenders can draw up quickly; make sure your lender can do this on weekends based on initial information you submit. If you have done a pre-approval, which is a bit more personal and includes financial information, your lender may say you can waive the third-party financing contingency, which is a plus for the seller.

Tip 5: Have a Personal Letter Drafted

I am a big believer in “making it personal” when submitting an offer to the seller. Attaching a picture of you and your family lets the seller and their agent know you are serious and explains why their home is the one for you and your family. It should define what makes the home special and give the seller a mental picture of passing the keys from their family to yours.

Tip 6: Do Not Judge a Book by Its Cover

Pictures are worth a thousand words, but if a home comes on the market in the area you are looking for and the pictures do not look great, do not dismiss it right out of the gate. It could be much better or worse than you thought, but by declining to see it you may have missed an opportunity. Those bad photos may work in your favor. If there are no pictures at all, however, then you can probably skip it unless you are interested in purchasing a lot.

Contact Christy Berry today to help you get ahead of the competition in 2022. 

Do you have a real estate question for Christy Berry? Submit them to callonchristy@papercitymag.com for your chance to have your question featured in this monthly series.

For more on Christy Berry, check out her website.