Need to buy quickly?

You have a client that for one reason or another needs to purchase a home as an owner occupied residence, meaning they want to live in the house. What do you do to find the right home for your clients that will have a relatively short closing time?

You, as a realtor need to ask several questions to narrow the search right out of the gate. Some buyers with a needed “quick close” may try to lead you down a path that they still wish to have the best deal out there. The quick close and rock bottom price may not work. Searching for a quick close in most cases rules out all of the short sale homes with a few exceptions. The big exception being the short sale is thru a local bank with local decision making. These can usually be made with short time frame. Bank owned homes are the next that you can look at. This is providing that the Realtor has all of the documentation ready to submit an offer such as loan approval letter etc.


The bank owned or REO properties can usually have a decision within a week, if longer time is needed, rule it out and move on. The best one is the heralded seller that has no bank or short sale ties; yes I am talking about a clean sale. Most sellers have the prices set at market value, meaning they are priced at the same as the others have sold in the last 3 months. These have only the seller to make the decision and can close quickly. (Remember the way it used to be?) There are still ways to close in 30 days; it just takes some work on the part of the Realtor!