People often ask me “When should I make an offer on a home?”. My answer is always, Tuesday. If you’ve followed this site for awhile, I’m sure you’re thinking that we have data to back this up, being the whole big-data resource and all. But honestly this is one that just comes down to experience and a little gut.

To be a savvy buyer, you first have to put yourself in the seller’s shoes. For reasons that are typically not disclosed to you (if they are, they have a terrible agent), the sellers are getting rid of their home. Now the advertisements may lead you to believe they are doing this for your benefit… “One of a kind!”, “Must see!”, “Motivated seller!”, the list is endless. But don’t be fooled… they are doing this for themselves. For whatever reason, they will no longer be in this house and are trying to convince someone else to buy it from them and remove their burden. This sounds dire, but it doesn’t make it a bad thing. You’re simply calling a spade a spade.

Knowing this… when do you think the sellers want to find a buyer?… ASAP! When do you as a buyer want to buy their home?… When the price is right! What a seller is willing to accept for their home is INVERSELY proportional to their need to sell, and their need to sell is DIRECTLY proportional to how long they wait to sell it. Translation… the longer they wait, the more willing they are to negotiate. But wait too long and someone else will scoop in and pick it up. The trick is to play a little mind game with the sellers. The more they “feel” that no-one wants their home, the less “hope” they have of getting a better offer.

This is why Tuesday is King (or Queen… hey, this is 2019!). Any good agent will put a house on the market on Thursday, in anticipation of the weekend buying cycle. People may see the house and even make offers on it over the weekend. Quite often these offers are reviewed either Sunday night or Monday. Come Tuesday, if still not under contract, the sellers are starting to feel the pressure. The last weekend buying cycle didn’t produce a buyer and the next weekend buying cycle is still 4 days away. An offer that comes in Tuesday may just be the rainbow in their cloudy skies. This still gives Wednesday as a “buffer day” in case the sellers need another day to consider the offer. Wait till Thursday though, and all bets are off. The weekend buying cycle is about to start again and no good seller would go under contract right before this cycle begins. The “hope” alone may be enough to discourage a seller from accepting your offer.

And there you have it. Submit your offers on Tuesday. Happy hunting!