 |
How To Avoid 9 Critical Buying Mistakes
Mistake #1 Looking at homes without being PRE-Qualified / PRE- approved
Many people look at houses… find one they like and then find out a lender will not approve them for a Home Loan. Before you look at homes… get pre-qualified! A Realtor can assist you in determining how much house you can afford or a mortgage broker can “officially” pre-qualify and get you pre-approved for a specific loan amount. When you get “officially” pre-approved for a home mortgage before you find a home to buy, you are certain that you will get the home because you are already approved for the loan! Additionally when you find the home you want, your Realtor can present a letter of your loan approval with the Contract of Sale. This pre-approval letter may help you in negotiating a better price for the home or insure the seller selects your contract in the event other Realtors have submitted a contract on the same home you want. (This happens frequently in a good housing market.) Ask your mortgage broker to get you pre-qualified and pre-approved before you look at houses… do it today!
Mistake #2 Not having a personal meeting with a REALTOR
Do you want to find the perfect home? Do you want to get your best buy? Perhaps even a property where you are the only person or first person to look at it? You must have a personal face to face meeting with the Realtor you want to work for you. When you only speak with a Realtor over the phone one of three things will happen. First, the Realtor will try to “sell you” on the home you called about (Which means They are more interested in their commission than You!) Second, you have someone ask you what you are looking for and then they don’t follow up with you. Third, you tell them what you are looking for… you drive by it and it’s not what you want. Do any of these sound familiar? A Realtor works on commission only. The seller pays the commission. The new real estate agent, the inexperienced agent or the non Professional agent will say they will help you with only a phone call… Is that who you want working for you? The experienced professional real estate agent will insist on a personal face to face meeting or tell you up front they will not work with you. Additionally the experienced professional will probably insist on an exclusive buyer agency agreement. When you and/or your spouse meet with a Realtor face to face you develop a relationship and rapport. Additionally the Realtor gets a chance to know you personally, which enhances the Realtor’s ability to pin point the right community and home for you. If you meet with a Realtor face to face and don’t feel good about them, meet with another Realtor rather than just talking with them on the phone… Have a Personal meeting!
Mistake #3 Working with the “wrong” Real Estate Agent
In Real Estate Training Seminars that Realtors attend it is often joked that many Real Estate agents are perceived to be one step below a used car salesman. You want to make sure the Realtor that you work with takes the following actions… The “right” Real Estate Agent will Meet with you in person, and spend 45 minutes to 1-? hours with you conducting a thorough initial consultation. They will probably insist on this meeting or not help you at all. The “wrong”Agent will take information from you over the phone and not meet with you in person. The “right” Agent will ask you lots and lots of questions about you personally, your lifestyle, your family, your leisure activity, your priorities, your experience in buying homes, your likes & dislikes and more. The “Wrong” Agent will not have you get pre-approved first. The “right”Agent will have you enter into a buyer’s Agency Agreement for your benefit….The “Right” Agent will show you the different neighborhoods first… The “Wrong” Agent will show you individual Houses first. The “Right” Agent knows the market and housing prices… The “Right” Agent has a Team of experts and specialists that can be called on to take care of all the different aspects of buying a home…. The “Right” Agent is responsive to your phone calls and emails and keep you fully informed of all aspects of the home purchase from signing of the purchase agreement through closing. The “Right” Realtor will stay in touch with you after you have bought the home and be able to recommend other people and businesses to provide proper services to you personally and for your home. The “Right” Agent doesn’t try to sell you a home, they educate you, they listen, they provide advice, answer questions and tells the truth.
Mistake #4 Finding a home you like, and then “sleeping on it".
Have you ever shopped for a car, clothes, or other things and then told a salesperson that you wanted to “Think about it” or “Sleep on it”? With most consumer items going home and then deciding later is ok. There will probably be another car come off the assembly line and the shoes will still be there tomorrow. Buying a home is not like buying any other consumer item. Each home and the land it sits on is completely unique and a one of a kind. The view, elevation, location, decorating, price, terms, availability, improvements, or other Features are either individually or in combination with others totally unique to that individual property. If you miss that one special property there will not be another one like it…EVER! When the market, neighborhood, community or individual property are in great demand it is not unusual for more than one contract to be submitted. Sometimes three, four or more are submitted on the same house. When you see a home you really like don’t be offended if the Realtor suggests that you write up a purchase agreement right on the spot. When looking for a home, trust your instincts not your intellect. If it feels right do it… and do it quickly before someone else does. If you have concerns such as the properties condition handle that with a clause in the purchase agreement not by “Thinking or sleeping on it.” Act quickly don’t lose the home that you really love.
Mistake #5 Making a low offer
Buying Real Estate is not like buying a car. You can haggle over the price of a car for days or weeks and another one will come off the assembly line just like the one you are negotiating to purchase. Real Estate is unique. They aren’t making any more land. The exact location, view, features, elevation, landscaping, improvements etc. of any one home are totally unique to that property. You might say, “Well if I offer too low we can always come up”… Not Necessarily! Sometimes a low offer offends a seller and they refuse to counter offer at all. At other times a seller will counter offer but it takes time to go back and forth. While you play the game offer, counter offer, offer; counter offer another contract higher than asking from another buyer is submitted. If the new purchaser offers a better price than you do or even if it is equal to yours, the seller may accept the new contract. In other words if you make a low offer you may not even get the chance to raise your price. My advice is to make your first offer your best offer. I’ll even suggest that you consider offering more than the full price! For a new listing or when other people are looking at the same property, offering more than full price may be the insurance or leverage you need to get the home that you really want. Oh, by the way if you or your spouse, or your children really don’t care if you lose the house, then go ahead and make a low offer. Remember unless you are paying all cash for your home, the home will require a lender appraisal. This Appraisal will insure that you don’t have to pay more than the property is worth! Additionally make sure you are working with one realtor under an exclusive buyer’s agent Agreement. Your realtor can then advise you of any circumstances about the seller’s motivation, the property or the housing market that would provide the circumstances where you would want to make a low offer. P.S. a low offer is anything less than the asking price.
Mistake #6 Buying a home without a home inspection
How would you feel if you bought a home and then shortly thereafter you found structural damage, the roof leaked, or the home didn’t have adequate insulation? Are you a building contractor? Do you want to crawl through the attic, under the house, or look for structural problems? Even if you have some knowledge of houses you probably don’t want to do these things. When you find a home that you like it might be new construction that has a warranty and therefore you don’t need a home inspection. On the other hand the home you want to buy could be a resale home that is 10 years, 20 years or more than 50 years old. When you look at a home and have any concerns about the condition of any part of the home, don’t ask your Brother-in law to look at it and don’t leave saying you need to think about it or not even consider it. When you like a home and have some concerns about it, sign a contract to buy it…immediately! Include in the contract however, a home inspection contingency. This contingency In the contract will allow you to have your “Cake and Eat it too.” By immediately entering into a contract with the home inspection contingency you take the home off the market. Plus you have time to hire a professional home inspector to check out the property. If the inspection is not to your satisfaction you may declare the contract null & void and receive a full refund of your deposit. Hire a professional home inspector to protect your interests. Your Realtor can recommend a qualified firm to you.
Mistake #7 Buying A Home Without A Home Warranty
When you purchase a new car, a new dishwasher, a new lawnmower, you expect and receive a warranty. When you purchase a new construction home most builders offer a warranty. When you purchase a resale home you also can obtain a home warranty. How would you feel if your refrigerator, heating and cooling system or stove stopped working 30 days after you purchased the home? Some sellers offer to pay for and offer a one-year warranty on their home when they list it for sale. If the seller does not volunteer to offer you a warranty you might request the seller to do so when you write the purchase agreement. If the seller doesn’t offer it or won’t pay for it, you may purchase a home warranty yourself. A home warranty may not be required for every home. Look at the age of the mechanical components and ask your Realtor if the seller is offering a warranty. You may not need it, but it certainly would give you some peace of mind wouldn’t it?
Mistake #8 Having a small deposit with your Purchase agreement
It would probably seem logical from your point of view to have a small deposit when submitting a contract to purchase a home. If your contract is not accepted your deposit check will be given back to you, and if your contract is accepted you will only have a small amount of your money “Tied up” until closing, or if you change your mind later you only have a small amount of money at risk. From a home seller and Realtor’s point of view, a small deposit may work against you. A small deposit may indicate to the seller that you are not serious about purchasing the property; have little to lose if you do change your mind and want to “Back Out” of the contract; create the possibility that the seller will counter offer your contract and ask for a larger deposit or be rejected outright or not selected in the event multiple contracts are simultaneously presented to the seller. A large deposit lets both the seller and Realtor know that you are serious, qualified and have something to lose in the event you later changed your mind and wanted to “Back Out” of the contract. Ask your realtor how much a large deposit would be for the price range property you are looking to purchase.
Mistake #9 Waiting To Buy
Almost always under all circumstances the best time to buy is now. What is your reason to wait? Are you waiting until you save more money? While you are saving up more money the price of the home you want to buy is going up thousands of dollars. The home will probably be rising 2-5 times the rate of your savings money…You loose by waiting! Are you waiting until interest rates come down? Even if the interest rate does drop chances are your monthly payments will increase because the price of the home has increased. Are you waiting until you can afford your dream home? The best way to obtain your dream home is to buy something…Anything now! After several years, sell it and buy another and then repeat the process. Most people never get their dream home until their 3rd to 6th house. The earlier you start to build equity and allow potential appreciation to work for you, the sooner you will get your dream home. Either buy something now or stop looking! The number one reason people don’t buy and keep on looking is FEAR. Fear that they can’t afford it or fear of making a wrong decision. The only decision that may be wrong would be not buying today. Almost all buyers are afraid of something, however they take their fear with them and buy anyway. When you look back many years down the road, you will wish you would have bought sooner and moved up to another house…sooner!
It would be a privilege for me to help you buy a home.
I’ll make sure I protect you every step of the way.
I look forward to your email or phone call.
|
| | |
| | Special Reports |
|
|
| | |
| | Featured Sites |
|
|
|
