What Does It Take To Get Under Contract?

Redfin released a study based on pre-pandemic sales from September 2019 through February 2020 versus sales from September 2020 through February 2021. These are national numbers for Redfin agents. Here are some highlights—
· Down payments have grown by 28% from an average of $32k to $41k during the pandemic. The typical down payment is now 15.9%.
· Before the pandemic only 21.2% of buyers paid over asking price. During the pandemic 34.4% of buyers are paying over asking price.
· Cash buyers have increased very slightly from 25.9% to 26.1% now.
· Conventional loan buyers have increased from 49.7% to 53%.
· FHA and VA loan buyers both saw drops of about 20%. Proving it’s more difficult for these buyers to get under contract.
· The share of successful offers that waived an appraisal contingency increased from 6.1% pre-pandemic to 17.6% during the pandemic.
· The share of successful offers that waived a financing contingency increased from 10.1% to 13.2%.
· The share of successful offers that waived inspection continency rose from 7.3% to 13.2%.
· Successful home buyers take a median of 96 days during the last 6 months with an average of 14 homes toured.
· Cash buyers improved their chances of winning a bidding war by 290%.
· And waiving the financing contingency is the second-most effective bidding war strategy as it improves your chances of winning a bidding war by 68%.
· Waiving your inspection contingency rights have no significant impact on a buyer’s ability to win a bidding war.

I have had a few clients waive their financing contingency successfully and I believe more people could do this if they are very strong buyers. I sometimes joke with my clients and their Agent that the only way they are not closing on their new home is if they tell their boss, “To go to hell” and get fired.