Buyers and Tellers: Be Ready to Act When You See the Right House
Being a commercial real estate broker, I felt very confident when my wife and I began house-hunting.
Little did I know that the residential side of the industry is a different animal. I wasn’t prepared for the emotional issues that come into play when buying a house.
The seller’s expectation is his house is a “castle,” the buyer’s expectation is the house is “four walls and a roof” and the lender-appraiser thinks it’s a “barn.”
If you can overcome these obstacles, then buying a home is not as stressful as some people make it out to be.
Here are some tips:
* Get pre-approved with a mortgage lender and have it put in writing.
Then make copies of where the funds are coming from for the down payment. These two pieces of paper are important ammunition to have with your offer so the seller has confidence that you are a “real” buyer.
* Hire a broker who specializes in representing buyers only.
The benefit is that they are always on your side of the deal, consistently looking out for your best interests and focused on showing you inventory as it comes in every day.
* Learn the neighborhood.
Make a commitment to drive the area in which you want to buy a house and look at at least 10 houses a week for three weeks. This gives you first-hand knowledge of the market and what is available for sale.
* Once you have found a house or houses to make offers on, ask questions about the seller.
What is his or her motivation to sell? What is important in the transaction? A long or short escrow, no loan contingency, buying it “as is,” etc.?
This way you can tailor your offer to seller and hope to negotiate something in return, such as a better price or the crystal chandelier in the hallway.
* Be ready to move quickly.
Timing is everything in real estate. When you find the right house, you’ll know. It hits you immediately and occupies your mind constantly.
* Never say you’ll “sleep on it” during negotiations.
While you’re sleeping, someone else will swoop in and take the deal from you.
When we found our house, I had the broker write the offer on the hood of his car in the driveway and go inside and present the offer immediately to the seller with the seller’s broker in attendance.
If you can’t do this, make sure you are available by pager or cell phone so your broker can call you with the status of offer / counteroffer and be able to give instructions accordingly.
* While you are waiting for a response from the seller, meet the neighbors.
My wife and I introduced ourselves as the buyers for the house, and it is amazing the amount of valuable information neighbors will reveal that can work to your advantage.
We hit it off so great with one neighbor that I was bold enough to ask him if he would call the seller, whom he new very well, and give his approval of us as “good people.”
We got the deal at midnight. Good thing we did, because there were two backup offers $15,000 higher than contract price.
Timing is everything.
CHRISTOPHER E. MALING
La Can~ada-Flintridge
