.  .  .  YOU’LL NEVER SLEEP IN IT.

I learned that useful axiom from my first broker and real estate guru, Sue Thompson.  The axiom is not always true, of course, but it’s true more times than it’s not true. The axiom is especially relevant when the market heats up in favor of the seller like it has here in Placer and Nevada County.

When the real estate inventory is low (supply) and the number of buyers is high (demand), then the buyers need to make lightning quick decisions.  If buyers find a house today that they want, but decide to sleep on it, and write an offer the next day, then they will be beat to the punch by buyers who saw it yesterday, wanted it, and wrote an offer on it last night.

Let’s be frank.  In California, and I suspect in most states, it is  easy for a buyer to write an offer and, at some point down the line, back out without penalty.  So, the first objective for the buyers is to secure the property, get it off the market.  Then, the buyers have ample time to worry and fret, have a change of heart, get cold feet, contract a case of buyers’ remorse and so on.

The worst situation for buyers is getting into a bidding war with multiple offers and counter offers.  The best situation for buyers is to launch a pre-emptive strike and secure the property before any other offers get to the table.

Do you know how painful it is to search and search for the perfect home, find it, and then have it snatched away from you while you were “sleeping on it?”

That reminds me of another old saying, “You snooze . . . (altogether now)  . . . you lose!