Working with a real estate agent that can quickly help you understand your buying power, saves you time, money, and heartbreak. If this agent can help you envision the possibilities of a space and creatively structure a winning offer that beats out 7 others, even better! During a time of rising interest rates and a short fall market, knowing what you want, can afford and lots of creativity makes all the difference.
We recently worked with lovely first-time home buyers looking to buy a home for their growing family. We love working with all types of people, but pregnant women are among my favorites 🙂 Not only are they ready to buy to make room for their growing family, but as a parent myself, it is really gratifying to help them envision spaces that can grow with them for years to come.
The first thing we do when working with a home buyer is something we call a past sold exercise. This is a backward-looking exercise that helps buyers genuinely understand what they can afford. Since the market recently changed, we were primarily looking at sales pending and homes sold in the last 30-45 days. They were working with a reasonably tight budget, and I believe this exercise was one of the keys to their success.
By using our exercise, they were able to learn the market quickly, truly understand what they wanted in a home, what they could afford, what compromises had to be made and learn about different neighborhoods that they had overlooked. In combination with the past sold exercise, I toured properties with them. I was able to show them the potential and possibilities of some homes which opened their minds to so many additional options.
Initially, we got them into a contract on a property that appeared to have some water damage. It was a non-competitive situation, so we had an inspection contingency to understand the extent of it… Unfortunately, high levels of mold were found in the home and we quickly got them out of contract.
Not long after, they found another home they wanted to put an offer on. In this case, it was a very competitive situation with multiple offers. They did not have a high down payment (which can limit the potential for their offer to be accepted), but we were able to structure their deal so that the lower down payment did not hinder their offer. After a bit of back and forth, THEY BEAT OUT SEVEN OTHER OFFERS FOR THIS PROPERTY.
The fall market is short. There is a lot of inventory and deals available for home buyers. In a fast-moving market like the fall real estate market in San Francisco, working with an agent who can help you understand your buying power quickly is imperative. We are the ONLY team I know of in San Francisco that does the past sold exercise. From the first meeting to being in contract not once but twice, these buyers were able to get into contract on their home within two months of working with us! Especially now, during a time of rising interest rates, knowing what you want and can afford early in the process can make all the difference.
“Ruth and her team made home buying so much less intimidating than we were expecting. We had a very specific set of criteria and we knew there wouldn’t be many homes that would match it, so we chose to work with Ruth in the hopes that she could help us get our offers accepted.Â
What we didn’t know what that she would provide so much guidance throughout the whole process. She gave us market insight and advice from the very beginning, she gave us her honest and detailed opinion about every property we saw, and when it came time to put in the offer she gave us an extremely thorough explanation of everything in the offer.Â
Throughout escrow and even afterward, Ruth and her team have gone above and beyond to make sure that we are taken care of. She even had the sellers fill out a questionnaire about the property to help us when we moved in! In all of our conversations with Ruth, we always felt that she was extremely knowledgeable, honest, professional, and never pushy. She never made us feel uncomfortable or rushed during the process, and we always felt like she had time for us. The other members of her team that we met during the process were also very friendly and helpful.Â
Overall, a great experience with the Ruth Krishnan team and we would definitely recommend her to anyone looking to purchase in SF!”
– T.W. BuyerÂ
If you are ready to buy a home or want to learn more about San Francisco real estate, and the current market, or want to get started on your past sold exercise please reach out and schedule a time to connect with us.
