MANITOWOC – Buying a home is a big project — and often a stressful one.

Today's market is still very much a seller's market. Higher borrowing costs haven't stopped people from looking for a new house.

But home supplies are still painfully low. As of April 5, 73 properties were for sale in Manitowoc County — and of those, just 21 did not have pending accepted offers, according to a local Realtor with access to listings.

“There’s nothing out there,” said Amy MacMillin, president of the Manitowoc County Board of Realtors and owner/broker at 1st Anderson Real Estate. “It’s going to remain a seller’s market for quite some time, and I don’t think prices are going down.”

Among the available homes, eight are priced at $475,000 or more; five are $300,000 to $500,000; three are $180,000 to $200,00; and five are $130,000 or less.

“Real estate agencies have plenty of buyers,” said Kevin Neelis, owner/broker at Heritage Real Estate Inc. “The buyers are there. The availability of houses is the problem.”

With homes sitting on the market a short time — many for a day or two — and most with multiple offers, we asked real estate experts to share a few things to know about today’s market and tips for buying a home. They shared these five tips.

1. Get pre-approved by your bank.

MacMillin urged buyers to get a signed letter from their banking institution, preferably local, before making an offer on a home.

“If sellers have more than one offer on the table, they are likely to throw out the ones that don’t have pre-approved financing,” she said.

Neelis said pre-approval letters should be updated and recent.

“If you were approved when mortgage interest rates were at 3%, and now interest rates are at 6.5%, you might not qualify to buy a $200,000 house, for example,” he said. “Now, maybe you qualify for a $150,000 home.”

2. Use a real estate agency.

“I’d recommend working with a Realtor, even if you’re buying a home sold by owner,” MacMillin said. “It’s not just getting in a good and solid offer, it’s the knowledge of the overall market and the process of selling a home from start to finish.”

3. Understand the market.

Home prices went up an unprecedented 18.6% in the Unite States from 2020 to 2021, according to the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. They inched up 2.5% from 2022 to 2023.

In Manitowoc County, the average home price is $176,344 — up 11.3% from 2022, according to Zillow.com.

“Home prices are leveling off,” MacMillin said. “The frenzy isn’t there, and homes are selling at about listing price.

“I think we had the pricing correction we needed, and now prices will remain steady,” she added. “The days where you could sell your home for tens of thousands over asking price are over.”

4. Pay for a home inspection before signing an offer.

MacMillin said younger or new buyers should overlook bad carpet or a paint color they don’t like when considering a new home.

“Those things can be changed easily at a low cost,” she said. “Pay attention to the mechanicals in the house, the roof, windows and foundation. Those are the things that will be costly to repair or replace, so you want to make sure they are in good shape before making an offer.”

5. 'Don’t rush into a purchase.'

The above advice from MacMillin might seem to contradict earlier advice, but she encouraged people to think things through.

“If you don’t have to move, then take your time,” she said. “Don’t be ultra picky, but don’t say ‘I guess this will do.' If it’s meant to be, it will happen.”

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Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@gannett.com or call 920-606-2586. Follow her on Twitter @PGPattiZarling.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc Realtors share tips for home buyers amid low inventory