by Jeremy Wilstein and Dean DeLeone

Over the past few years, Park City consistently has had historically low inventory. Being a small resort town, lower inventory comes with the territory, but these days there are typically not even a handful of options for most buyers. When representing buyers, we always make sure that they are ready to submit an offer when the right property becomes available because there are likely other buyers with similar criteria waiting for the same property. In years past, clients with flexible schedules could hop on a flight when the right property became available, to come out to tour it in person to ensure it was a property worth pursuing. However, even back then, they risked the chance of losing the property to another buyer.

Once the COVID Pandemic hit, there was a short period of uncertainty about how it would affect the real estate market. It did not take long to realize that many prospective buyers desired a mountain home to escape to, enjoying the fresh air and outdoor activities -- all part of the Park City dream! In the summer of 2020, many buyers interested in the area decided to expedite their search, and they made their purchases sooner than originally planned. Newly interested buyers started flowing in, and it has been a hot market since. Overall inventory is at about a third of what it typically is, creating a very high demand for all properties when they hit the market. It is common for new inventory to immediately generate multiple offers upon coming on the market, and to sell at prices higher than list prices. The standard procedure for acquiring property has drastically changed.

While it is a very competitive market, our team of experienced agents is having great success assisting our clients in acquiring excellent properties. The local rumor mill may have you believe that it is impossible to purchase a property in the current market, but we have found that that is not true. We employ unique strategies that give our clients the upper hand in this competitive environment:

1 OFF-MARKET TRANSACTION

Rather than sitting around and waiting for properties to hit the market, we are constantly communicating with local agents identifying properties that they have coming on the market. When the property meets a particular buyer's needs, we immediately contact our clients to inform them that a great property is becoming available. We encourage them to submit an offer before it goes on the market, to tie up the property before competition is widespread. 

2 WINNING IN A MULTIPLE OFFER SITUATION

Many sellers are not willing to accept offers prior to marketing their property to the masses. We do not shy away from these situations. We have unique negotiation techniques that give our clients a competitive edge, enabling them to win when competing against multiple offers.

3 COMMUNICATION IS KEY

As a buyer in today's market, it is crucial to maintain thorough communication with your agent. We need to know what you are looking for, how you plan to buy it, and when you are ready to make a purchase. The more details we know, the better we will perform our search for you and inform you as soon as we identify a prospective property. We will both be prepared to acquire the right property as soon as it is identified.

Communication is part of our unique negotiation strategies as well. Many agents submit offers without ever talking to the listing agent. We are in constant communication with the agent to ensure they know that we have a serious buyer. They can relay to their seller all the advantages of choosing your offer over others.

You are probably wondering what these particular strategies are that we have alluded to. We have intentionally not gone into detail about the specific steps our team takes in the current real estate market, intending to keep them as competitive advantages for our clients. We would be more than happy to go into more detail on an individual basis with those who are interested. Please give us a call or send us an email, and we look forward to creating an individualized plan of attack that best helps you attain your Park City real estate goals!