| 5 Secrets to Buying |
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1. Get “Pre-Approved” – Not “Pre-Qualified” Do you want to get the best property you can for the least amount of money? Then make sure you are in the strongest negotiating positions possible. Price is only one element in the negotiations, and not necessarily the most important one. Often other terms, such as the strength of the buyer or the closing date, are critical to a seller. In years past, I always recommended that buyers get “pre-qualified” by a lender. This means that you spend a few minutes on the phone with a lender who asks you a few questions. Based on the answers, the lender pronounces you “pre-qualified” and issues a certificate that you can show to a seller. Sellers are aware that such certificates are WORTHLESS, because none of the information has been verified. Many times unknown problems can come to the surface! Some of the problems I’ve seen include recorded judgments, alimony payments due, glitches on the credit report due to any number of reasons both accurately and inaccurately, down payments that have not been in the clients’ bank account long enough, etc. So the way to make the strongest offer today is to get “pre-approved”. This happens AFTER all information has been checked and verified. You are actually APPROVED for the loan and the only loose end is the appraisal on the property. This process takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on your situation. It’s VERY POWERFUL and a weapon I recommend all my clients have when negotiating an offer. 2. Sell Your Property First, Then Buy the House If you have a house to sell, sell it before selecting a house to buy! Contingency sales aren’t nearly as strong as one that comes in with a ready, willing and able buyer. Consider this scenario: You’ve found the perfect house – now you have to make an offer to the seller. You want the seller to reduce the price and wait until you sell your house. The seller figures this is a risky deal, since he might pass up a buyer who DOESN’T have to sell a house while he’s waiting for you to sell yours. So he says OK, he’ll do the contingency but it has to be a full price offer! You have now paid more for the house than you could have because of the contingency, and you have to sell your exiting house in a hurry. Otherwise you lose the house. So to sell quickly you might take an offer that’s lower than if you had more time. The bottom line is that buying before selling might cost you THOUSANDS of dollars. 3. Do Your Homework and Research If you’re concerned that there is not a house on the market for you, then go on a window–shopping trip. Browse the internet at sites such as www.realtor.com, www.crye-leike.com, www.kendracooke.com, www.realtracs.com. You can start to identify potential houses and locations without falling in love with a specific house. Another tactic when listing your house is to make the sale “subject to seller finding suitable housing.” Adding this phrase to the listing means that when you do find a buyer, you will have some time to find a new home. If you don’t find anything to your liking, you don’t have to sell your present home. Before house hunting, make a wish list of things you want in your new home. Then make a list of the things you don’t want. You can use the lists as a guide to rate each property that you see. The one with the biggest score wins! This helps avoid confusion and keeps things in perspective when you’re comparing dozens of homes. When you are house hunting, keep in mind the difference between “STYLE and SUBSTANCE”. SUBSTANCE is things that cannot be changed such as the location, view, size of the lot, noise in the area, school district and floor plan. The STYLE represents easily changed surface finishes like carpet, wallpaper, color, and window coverings. Buy the house with good SUBSTANCE, because the STYLE can always be changed to match your tastes. I always recommend that you imagine each house as if it were vacant and don’t consider each house on the seller’s decorating skills and their furnishings. 4. Don’t Be Pushed Into Any House Your agent should show you everything available that meets your requirements. Don’t make a decision on a house until you feel that you’ve seen enough to pick the best one. Don’t forget to check into the school districts of the area you’re considering. The internet is a wonderful research tool with various sites providing information on class sizes, percentage of students that go on to college, SAT scores, etc. The busing system can also tell you what schools particular house addresses are zoned for. 5. Stop Calling Ads! Please note – ads are sometimes created to make the phone ring! Many of the homes have some drawback that’s not mentioned in the ad, such as traffic noise, power lines, or litigation in the community. What’s not mentioned in the ad is usually more important than what is. For this reason, I want you to be very careful when reading ads. Remember that the person writing the ad is representing the seller and not you! The most important thing you can do is have someone on your side looking out for your best interests. Your own agent will critique the property as to how well it meets your needs and will point out any drawbacks you should know about. So whether you decide to work with The Cooke Team, pick an agent you feel most comfortable with and enlist the services of that agent as a buyer’s agent. Then you become a client with all the rights, benefits, and privileges created by this agency relationship, and you’re no longer just a shopper. Did you know that many homes are sold without a sign ever going up or an ad ever being put in the paper? These “great deals” go to those people who are committed to working with one agent. When an agent hears of a great buy, who do you think their going to call, their client, who they have a legal obligation to work hard for, or someone who just called on the phone and said “keep your eye’s open”? So to get the best buy on a property, I always recommend that you hire your own agent and stick with him or her. Almost always, the seller is paying YOUR agents commission and it costs you nothing to have someone on your side working for you! Why not have your own representatives for FREE?????? |