How to Stand Out in a Competitive Housing Market

For 2019, homes for sale may stay on the market longer than they did at this time last year, and prices may drop as a result — but the good homes that are priced right will still go fast. In addition, the number of those good homes that aren’t overpriced will dwindle as well, as some sellers make the choice to hang onto their home for longer while they wait for a market that’s more to their liking.

That’s why for buyers, it’s essential you act fast when you find a home that fits your wants, your needs, and your budget. But acting fast alone won’t give you a leg up on your competition. Instead, it’s necessary you stand out from among your competition by presenting the best possible offer, and making yourself the most attractive potential buyer.

How do you do that? There are plenty of ways, but one of the best is to go one step further than a typical pre-approval letter by becoming Approved to Move™.

What Is the Typical Process of Buying a Home?

It’s not uncommon for people to approach the home buying experience in this fashion:

1. They get a standard pre-approval letter from their mortgage company
2. They hire a real estate agent who shows them available homes that meet their criteria
3. They make an offer
4. Once that offer is accepted, they conduct inspections on the home
5. They hope and pray the process goes smoothly — timely underwriting decision, good appraisal, etc.

That process presents sellers with a risk they have to take: hoping the buyers who have a standard pre-approval will actually be able to close on the mortgage and buy their home.

This is why sellers frequently prefer all-cash offers. While they are certainly rare, they present the seller with no concerns about whether the offer will actually result in a sale.

You have to realize that, to many sellers, you are just a set of data — offer price, close date, type of mortgage — that they compare to other buyers making an offer on their home. So, making your dollar-to-dollar offer look more favorable to the seller, especially in a competitive market, is essential.

What Makes Approved to Move™ Different?

Being Approved to Move™ is basically as good as presenting a cash offer. Why? Because with Approved to Move™, you will have a fully underwritten credit approval.

With a standard pre-approval, a mortgage company will give you a generic purchasing maximum based on a pull from a credit bureau. It’s not usually fully underwritten, and it’s commonly good for 30 to 60 days.

With Approved to Move™, meanwhile, you as the buyer will have already have all of your important information verified. That provides you with an offer that is as close to cash as possible, and is good for 90 days.

Approved to Move™ gives sellers complete confidence that the buyers making the offer are fully qualified to purchase their home at the price they offered, and on the timeline they proposed. With other proposals, sellers will have to make the determination of whether the buyer will actually be able to close on the loan. And if they don’t, it could be an expensive proposition that sets the sellers back, both in terms of finances and time.

That’s how being Approved to Move™ makes you look like a knight in shining armor compared to your competitors.

How Do I Get Approved to Move™?

The nice feature of Approved to Move™ is it doesn’t require you to do anything you wouldn’t have to do with a standard mortgage approval. There will be more information collection and verification before you even begin searching for your new home, but it will potentially pay dividends in the long run.

To get Approved to Move™, Embrace Home Loans will verify your:

• Bank records
• FICO and credit scores
• Income and assets
• Tax statements
• Debt-to-income ratio

With this information and your desired down payment amount, you will be provided with options for the types of mortgages you can choose, and the maximum amount you will be able to borrow. From there, your loan officer would provide an estimated payment amount.

This is another great feature of Approved to Move™. Because it is a fully underwritten approval, not only will you look better to sellers, you’ll also be able to better estimate your own financial situation — since the terms of the mortgages offered to you will be clearly laid out, interest rate and all.

Get Approved to Move™ Before You Look for Your New Home

There are many ways you can get the home of your dreams without massively overpaying for it — even in what is considered a competitive housing market. It’s always in your best interest to do your research on the area you want to move, the houses that are in that area, and how much you can afford on a monthly basis.

Once you have done that up-front legwork, it’s time to put yourself in the best position to have sellers accept your offer over your competition. In addition to making a strong price offer with as few contingencies as possible, presenting an offer backed by an Approved to Move™ mortgage will potentially put you ahead of the competition in the seller’s eyes.

At Embrace Home Loans, our team of mortgage professionals can help guide you through the Approved to Move™ process, explaining to you the ins and outs and the overall benefits of doing so in a competitive housing market. We’ll help you purchase your new home, without having to worry your mortgage won’t close on the house of your dreams.