The great American real estate market game has swung away from the favor of sellers to that of buyers. If you are a buyer entering the market, there is one particular step you can take to get the best possible deal.

The first part of this decade was a sellers dream. The market was so strongly in favor of sellers that one bedroom shacks were selling for ten times their real value and they were selling within a week of being listed. After 10 potential buyers submitted offers! It was sheer madness.

Balance is found in nature and the real estate market has no exemption from this. It was only a matter of time until the strong sellers market swung back to buyers. As I am writing this, we are about to begin one of the great buyers markets as desperate homeowners flood the real estate market with homes for sale.

All and all, it is a really good time to be a buyer. Go to view homes in most real estate markets these days and sellers fall all over themselves trying to make sure you get a good impression. If things get any crazier, they will start throwing rose petals on the floor for you to walk over!

While being a buyer in this market is a good, it is only a starting position. If you really want to get the absolute best deal out there, you need to take an extra step. What is it? You need to get your financing lined up before house shopping. This means getting pre-approved by a lender.

Sellers have learned to be wary of interested buyers these days. Yes, they want to find someone to buy their home, but there are a lot of false buyers looking at homes these days. These false buyers definitely are looking for a new home, but they make their offers conditioned on the sale of their current home. In short, the offers are not worth the paper they are written on.

If you approach a seller with a letter of financing from a lender, you will be the king of all you see. You can negotiate a low purchase price. You can probably also get the seller to kick in furniture or other items that strike your fancy. When you have financing in hand, you are a rare bird in this market. A much sought after bird.

Use this to your advantage to get the best deal possible and you will be really happy when the market rebounds and prices rise dramatically. In fact, youll be rich!