Inside a seller's market

You hear it everywhere these days:

• "The market is great!
• I bet you're loving this Vernon real estate market"
• "It's a great time for you realtors."

From the outside looking in, it does seem like everything is coming up roses. However, from the inside, realtors often have a far different outlook.

A full fledged, hair-straight-back seller's market can be great — for sellers.

However there are two sides to every transaction — a seller side, and a buyer side. The buyers are certainly not enjoying this market, and it is riddled with issues behind the scenes.

There is a significant amount of wasted time in the current market. The general public sees homes selling quickly and think, “what an easy sale."

However, there are many, many transactions that don't make it to fruition. Buyers are feeling they must make extremely quick decisions or risk losing out on a home they want.

When decisions are made In a panic, often steps in the real estate process are missed such as making sure a solid financing preapproval is in place, or the buyer having the opportunity to really and truly ensure he or she even wants that particular house for certain before taking action.

Buyer's remorse is rampant in today's competitive real estate market and buyers are often looking for innovative ways to walk away from a deal.  

In addition, buyers often must attempt offers on two, three or five in multiples before being the successful bidder. What appears to be a quick sale for the seller is an agonizingly slow and stressful process for the buyer. 

Further to this, multiple offers have become the norm. Anyone who has ever been in a multiple offer situation with two or more offers, knows how incredibly stressful they are.

Buyers, sellers and realtors all feel an incredible amount of anxiety during multiple offers situations as there is always at least one loser and people are going to go away from the bargaining table disappointed.

Once again, great for the seller and not ideal for at least one unlucky buyer who has to start the process all over again. 

To compound the issue, finding affordable homes is becoming a thing of the past while mortgage rules continue to tighten. 

Often sellers, buyers and realtors are involved in transactions that fail due to the inability of the buyer to obtain financing due either to recent mortgage rule changes or bankers simply not having the time to verify the buyer’s information for a firm preapproval.

More wasted time for all involved.     

Seller's markets can be great for sellers. However from the buyer's point of view and the realtor's points of view, most would agree that a more normal, balanced market is far more desirable. 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.