On every side of central Ohio, realtors are seeing a surge in the demand for real estate.

On every side of central Ohio, realtors are seeing a surge in the demand for real estate. Realtors tell 10TV there aren't enough middle-class homes for sale in the Columbus housing market to meet the needs of expectant buyers.

That's a great thing for sellers, but buyers are struggling to compete with one another when it comes to making a bid.

“It's stressful and a little nerve wrecking,” said Kristie Christie, who recently bought a home in New Albany. She knows how intense the rush can be when searching for a new home and the need to take it off the market fast.

She constantly checks email notifications sent to her phone. “Even if I didn't get an email, I would constantly check it.”

Christie, like hundreds of other realtor clients, would get notified whenever a home in their interested neighborhood would go up for sale.

“If it [the house] was something that it checked all our boxes - square footage, bedrooms, the garage - we would try to see the house that day if we could,” she explains.

According to research by the Columbus Board of Realtors, 7,402 single family homes were on the market first quarter of 2015. This year, there were only 4,681 to choose from during that same time frame. That’s a 2,721 drop in housing inventory.

“We believe much of it is from the lack of lender-mediated properties that we had been seeing a few years ago,” said Sara Walsh, a Columbus realtor with more than 30 years of experience.

Latest reports also show houses are selling faster. On average in 2015, it took about 80 days to sell a single-family home in Columbus. Now, research from the Columbus Board of Realtors shows an average of 62 days on the market.

“We are very fortunate here because unemployment is down, job growth is up per-income (and) per capita is up,” said Walsh, who adds that realtors are seeing multiple offers on homes within a few days of place it on the market.

So, how does a buyer make themselves stand out when there are several buyers to compete with:

Start with a trusted Realtor and lender

Walsh says sellers want to know who they are doing business with and they want to make sure that their buyers are working with lenders that have pre-approved them, will have the funding and ready to close.

Know what you want

“You want to be ready and knowing what you plan on putting in your offers,” said Walsh. “…what [you] are willing to give, what [you] are willing to pay, what the concessions may be. It can be when [you] can close quickly or be flexible on it. It could be how long you are willing to give the owner possession after closing.”

Do your research

Find out what are the seller's hot buttons? Is it timing? Is it money? Is it things that maybe need to be done in the house that they are willing to let a buyer do rather than being done prior to closing?