Add 'Landlord: The Google Strategy'

Landlord%3A-The-Google-Strategy.md

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+There is a version of the housing market story that gets told over and over, and it goes like this: prices are high, rates are high, nothing is affordable, and the only people buying are the ones with cash. That version is not wrong, exactly. It is just incomplete.
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+In markets where builders have added meaningful supply in recent years, prices have pulled back. Several Sun Belt metros that boomed during the pandemic have given back a portion of those gains. But those are the exceptions. Most markets are not working from excess; they are working from scarcity.
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+Malinda is a name you might hear from a lot of agents right now, because the buyers getting deals done tend to treat the purchase like a business transaction rather than an emotional event. That is not a personality trait. It is a preparation habit.
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+Before you look at a single listing, get your financing fully sorted. Not a rough estimate. Not a verbal confirmation from a loan officer you met once. A full pre-approval based on verified income, tax returns, bank statements, and a hard credit pull. In this market, a seller who receives an offer without that documentation will not take it seriously.
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+The appraisal is the lender's check, not yours. A low appraisal means the buyer has to make up the gap in cash, renegotiate, or cancel. Ask your agent whether recent comparable sales support the price you are offering.
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+Negotiation works best when it is quiet and well-prepared. Before you make an offer, find out whether the price has been reduced and by how much. A listing that has been relisted after a cancellation is a fundamentally different negotiation than a property that is drawing multiple showings every day.
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+The timing question, whether to buy now or wait for rates to come down, is the one that trips up more buyers than any other single factor. No one consistently times the real estate market. The more useful question is not whether now is the right time in the abstract; it is whether you can carry the payment without strain.
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+Real estate rewards preparation more than it rewards timing. Nobody consistently calls the top or the bottom of a market, but buyers who show up informed and financially ready close deals in every cycle. Start by browsing [current homes for sale and market resources](https://www.ekasibookings.co.za) to build a realistic picture of your options.