How can a home buyer compete and win this bidding war? By understanding how offers are viewed by the seller and being prepared to meet those requirements as much as possible. If you can pay all cash, there will be no financing contingencies or appraisals to wait for, and the escrow can close within days, but if that is not possible, follow these steps to strengthen your position and get your offer accepted;

•1.   Do a complete loan application and bring every piece of paper requested by the lender

•2.   Have the bank issue a complete pre-approval letter, signed by a real person

•3.   Offer to pay more than the asking price if you can

•4.   Put a large down payment if possible, this will help when your offer is compared to others

•5.   Be prepared to take the house on an "as-is" condition and spell that out in the contract

•6.   Reduce the inspection contingency from 17 to about 5-7 days only

•7.   Reduce the close of escrow to less than 30 days if possible

Realize that the sellers don't care who buys their house, all they look for is to get the maximum amount of money they can, in the quickest amount of time with the least amount of inconvenience. They don't want to do any work, or wait too long to close the escrow or pay for anything extra.

Now that you finally decided to jump off the fence and get into the housing market and become a homeowner, you need to give this idea some time and dedication, as we get closer to the end of the $8,000 tax credit window of November 30 2009, there will be far more competition and you will need all the help you can get. Work closely with your chosen Realtor, don't go at it alone and be prepared to go see a house within minutes and possibly right an offer on the spot.

This market offers you a great opportunity to make the purchase of a lifetime... but others are also aware of these positive conditions and you will meet them when they compete with you... just when YOU think YOU found YOUR dream home. Happy House Hunting!