You’ve probably seen the stories about shrinking inventory of properties for sale, both nationwide and locally in the Boston real estate market, which means it can often come down to a dogfight between buyers for the best listings in Boston. I know that may sound crazy given the economic situation, but in the words of Bill Belichick, the Boston real estate market “is what it is.” The best listings sell fast.
So, as a buyer, how can you get yourself in position to beat out other buyers to the best homes?
First, knowing when most properties actually hit the market is key. That’s just good preparation. Here’s a chart I put together showing the day most Boston real estate listings come on market over the past year:
So, it’s pretty clear that most listings in Boston are coming on market mid-week with just about a full 1/4 launched on Wednesday and 2/3 of listings launched on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
So what’s the problem with this picture?
Most listings for sale come on market in Boston mid-week. But since you’re buying a home, and most likely you have a day job that allows you to pay for that home, it’s hard to sit around all day searching for real estate while you’re working.
But there are a few things your can do to help yourself buy the best home:
- Sign up for daily property email alerts. That way any new listings coming on market fitting your search criteria will get sent to you automatically. It’s like letting your search come to you so you don’t have to waste time searching and sorting through listings that won’t work for you.
- Use a good buyer agent. A buyer agent’s full-time job is to search for and preview new properties for clients all day long. They know what’s good and what’s not so good for listings. Letting a buyer agent vet properties for you saves you a lot of time and it costs you nothing.
- With the time you save on searching by utilizing a buyer agent and getting listings sent to you, use that time instead to schedule a few weekdays when you can either take a day off from work or take a half day to go look at the right properties mid-week as they hit the Boston real estate market. Waiting for an open house or only going to view properties on the weekend is a sure-fire way to get into a competitive bidding situation or lose your perfect home. Get the jump on properties as they come on market instead. A few 1/2 days off from work in exchange for potentially thousands of dollars saved and/or securing your ideal home that you’ll be living in for the next 5+ years is well worth it.
