The Market Gets Competitive for Home Buyers

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

More home buyers are finding they’re losing their power position in the real estate market and that when they submit an offer for a home, they may not be alone in the bidding. In fact, buyers who submit low offers may not even get a courtesy of a callback nowadays. 

One Florida couple says they put in seven offers on homes over two months — most at or above asking price — before they were finally able to get a $365,000 Sarasota home. 

A drop in the inventory of for-sale homes around the country is prompting more competition among home buyers. Inventory in June is 24 percent below year-ago levels. 

"I've had listings get 45 offers," Sin-Yi Chao Lambertson, a real estate broker in Glendora, Calif., told Money Magazine. 

Money Magazine recently offered potential buyers the following tips if they want to get the winning bid on a home: