It's war out there: the buyers' perspective.
I'm starting to realize that homely gems like "we're in a strong seller's market" or even "real estate is nuts" don't begin to describe the flak today's market throws at homebuyers.
Not that home-buying has become like air-to-air combat: "Long hours of total boredom interrupted by seconds of sheer terror". No, that sounds more like the agent's job description. But it is true that buyers could use the fighter pilot's endurance, decisiveness and lightening reflexes.
The training: Buyers have homework. Find an agent, scan the Internet, learn neighborhoods, hit open houses, get pre-approved.
The briefing: Once a buyer finds the right house, she pours over a stack of important paperwork called a "disclosure package". Inspections, seller disclosures and sometimes homeowners association documents demand a buyer's careful study.
The strategy: Then there's the purchase contract, eight pages jam-packed with legalese and decision paths. How many competing offers are expected? What tactics will it take to beat them? Buyer plans to approach the target throttle wide open, because anything less won't get her through.
The scramble: The market moves so quickly that buyers must learn to react by instinct. Homes hit the market one week, have an open house or two that week-end and go up for bid a few days later. A buyer who sees a house for the first time on Sunday usually has no more than two or three days—maybe less—to get into position.
The mission: It's D day, H hour, and Buyer's offer is presented. Seller may accept it, but if other offers are comparable, he'll be tempted to "counter" the top few to find that one buyer who'll rise to the occasion.
The dogfight: Now decisions must be made in seconds or minutes, not hours. How long does Seller give Buyer to respond to his counter? Not long. Buyer stays on the wing of her agent, ready to respond at a moment's notice. Does she accept the Seller's counter? Or offer less than the counter, but more than initially? Or offer even more than the counter in hopes of fighting off the competition? Or break off and retreat?
The debriefing: Did she get it? Great! Let's go celebrate. Did she miss the target? Then let's analyze what went wrong, so we're ready for the next mission.
Despite these analogies, home-buying isn't quite like air-to-air combat. No, that's life-or-death stuff.
Home buying is more like sky diving. There's risk, but you learn to minimize it. You jump because the reward is worth the risk, and because you know that the parachute invariably opens.