With continued high demand for homes in North Texas and such a small number of homes on the market, it takes a lot of effort and even some sacrifice to establish yourself as a buyer.

There were just 2,418 homes listed for sale in Dallas-Fort Worth in March, down 88% from the 20,853 available two years ago, according to Texas A&M University’s Texas Real Estate Research Center. This has made bidding wars common across the country, especially in D-FW.

Prices have risen from a median sale price of $318,045 in March 2020 to a record high of $380,000 in March 2022. Homes are selling an average of 4% above asking price in all northern counties of Texas, according to data from Multiple Listing Services.

Todd Luong of Re/Max DFW Associates says buyers need to make their offers as attractive as possible to the seller in order to sometimes compete with 20 or 30 offers. The unforgiving environment and high prices sometimes shock future Texans, he said.

“I get a lot of buyers from California, of course. A lot of them still don’t know much about Texas,” Luong said. “They come here thinking they can buy a mansion for 300,000 $, and it’s not. Things are different from three years ago.

Given the realities of such a tight housing market, here’s what local real estate agents say buyers should do to secure a home:

It takes stamina

With such activity in the market, buyers need to be prepared for their offers to be rejected and to react quickly, said Katie Harris of Rogers Healy & Associates.

“When buyers show up with a really good head on their shoulders, they’ll be better prepared to stay grounded through the process and then jump on the right opportunity when it comes along,” she said.

real estate agent

With all the complexities of negotiations and paperwork along the way, agents and successful buyers caution against buying a home without a real estate agent.

“I think it’s really important at this point to have someone in your corner who can help you through this and understand very specifically how this affects you as an individual seller or buyer,” said Bryan Pacholski. , Senior Managing Director of Compass in Dallas. – Fort Worth.

Know what you want

Leigh Calvert, an agent for Douglas Elliman Real Estate, said buyers should be careful about the extent to which they let outside opinions influence their buying decisions.

“Buying a home is one of the biggest investments people make, and it’s important to be firm in your decisions, whether it’s about which neighborhoods you’re interested in, negotiating, terms and more.”

Give up contingencies

To be competitive, Luong recommends that buyers waive the possibility of an appraisal on their offer, which means they would need enough money to make up the difference between the selling price and a low appraisal.

“As a bonus, you can even provide proof of funds to the seller to show you have enough money to make up the difference if the valuation is low. This will increase the chances of your offer being accepted.

Luong also says they should waive the financial contingency, which gives buyers the right to terminate the contract if their loan is denied. He said buyers should be pre-approved by a mortgage lender and submit that letter with the offer.

Propose a sale-leaseback

Luong said buyers should offer to rent the property to the seller for free after the sale, a frequent request from sellers in this market. Before the pandemic, most sale-leasebacks lasted up to a few days or a week, he said, but now some sellers want to stay in the property for several months after the sale.

“Chances are the seller wants a sale-leaseback. Being proactive shows the seller that you are a generous and considerate buyer. Salespeople like to work with generous and considerate people. Who wouldn’t?

»Texas Compression: A series examining the high cost of high growth in North Texas.