Creative Solutions to Find Listings for Buyers in Tight Inventory Conditions

Tight inventory continues to be a challenge for buyers and their agents in many real estate markets across the country. Although we may not be seeing the crazy bidding wars and volume of offers as we did in recent years, it’s still not easy to find enough inventory in certain areas and price points. 

If you find yourself having a hard time finding sufficient inventory for your buyers, you may want to consider targeting overpriced listings for additional purchase opportunities. 

Why overpriced homes? They tend to sit and don’t sell until they’ve reached a price point that is in line with market expectations, which can create a window of opportunity for savvy agents.

The key to finding additional inventory for your buyers is to look for those homes that have a high ‘Days On Market count’, or have had multiple price adjustments and still not moving, or that are just plain priced too high for the neighborhood, and that are in the price point just above your buyer’s. 

These are homes that should be in your buyer’s price point, they just haven’t gotten there yet. They’ll eventually need to drop their prices or they'll just keep lingering on the market. The key is identifying these listings while they are still overpriced, to have the best chance of beating the competition. . 

To take advantage, simply start by reaching out to the listing agent. Establish rapport and tactfully inquire on activity for their listing. At some point you’ll want to broach that your buyer is interested in the property, but based on your research it looks like the listing is priced a little high for market conditions, and would they be open to an offer that is more in line with area valuations? 

Explaining why your offer is actually strong relative to fair market value can be tricky. Come armed with comparable sales and area market reports to diplomatically make your case. Usually the earlier they are on the market the more difficult it is to convince them the price is off. Sometimes they see it, but it is not unusual that it takes a few weeks before reality sets in. If that’s the case, no reason you can’t stay in contact until they’re more open to dealing. 

Another factor is that once a price adjustment has been made, especially if they land in the right range, the competition picks up quickly and jumps on it too. It’s generally advantageous to negotiate and get your offer and terms agreed upon before an adjustment is made. Make it easy to say “yes” to your offer in these circumstances. 

In closing, if there isn’t enough inventory in your market, using this tactic of looking at overpriced properties just north of your buyer’s price range can yield results and sometimes even create an optimal purchase scenario for your buyer. Just takes a little savvy and a little hunting!