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Look at a house 2-3 times before you make an offer. Preferably at different times of the day and especially if you fall in love with it at first sight which may blind you to some of its drawbacks.
Buy within your means and not something that requires every penny of both salaries if you are two income. Make sure you understand the real estate tax and utility situation where you are buying.
Test your commute at rush hour.
Leave room in your budget for repairs. They will happen in the best house and they are usually not cheap.
Leave room in your budget so that if there are things about the house you don't like(carpet, paint, other dated stuff) you can change them before you move in. They wont get any better, you wont like them more, it will be a hassle to do them after you move in and when you go to sell you will either have to change them or take a lower price. If you don't like them, probably no one else will either. Might as well get some enjoyment out of upgrading. Conversely, if you wont be there very long, don't pour money into upgrades you wont get anything back on.
Educate yourself about the basics of home maintenance and routinely check things. Something as simple as loose gutters can cause major water damage. Caulking/weather stripping gone bad can cost you extra on utilities.
Pay attention to the landscape. Many people overplant and/or plant too close to houses which can cause water problems. Big trees that are a hazard to the house will not get smaller and are very expensive to have taken down.
Don't let yourself be crazed by a few thousand dollars or petty things the seller does if you are otherwise happy with the house/deal. Where possible better to get cash or reduced price than have seller fix things. But, at a certain point the best choice is usually to close the deal and move on to enjoying your new house.
Don't worry about 'offending a seller' with a lower offer; - Their counter offer (or lack thereof), will quickly reveal just how low they are willing to go. 'Asking price' is just that ... and often based on poor information.
You'd think so, but this can backfire.
I saw a nice house, asking price was $525K, needed substantial roof work. I offered 450, figuring the owners would negotiate and meet in the middle somewhere. Instead their counteroffer was "Asking price, if we can't get that then we'll just rent the place until the market recovers".
They took it off the market a few weeks later, and it burned to the ground this past winter, "causes not determined"
I saw a nice house, asking price was $525K, needed substantial roof work. I offered 450, figuring the owners would negotiate and meet in the middle somewhere. Instead their counteroffer was "Asking price, if we can't get that then we'll just rent the place until the market recovers".
They took it off the market a few weeks later, and it burned to the ground this past winter, "causes not determined"
We'll, you did find out how low they would go. Also, sometimes, sellers will reject an offer and then come-back later with a counter. Sounds like their refusal to negotiate, 'backfired' on them ... assuming that fire insurance does not always cover 'full replacement cost' (or are you suggesting that the fire might not have been what it seemed??)
We'll, you did find out how low they would go. Also, sometimes, sellers will reject an offer and then come-back later with a counter. Sounds like their refusal to negotiate, 'backfired' on them ... assuming that fire insurance does not always cover 'full replacement cost' (or are you suggesting that the fire might not have been what it seemed??)
I don't know. I think they were unwilling to face the reality that there house was no longer worth the inflated value from the peak of the bubble.
I do know that now I am glad I didn't get them to negotiate a price we could both agree on!
The thing I hated the most about the home buying process was the "nickel and diming" that happens with your realtor and lender.
Everything is negotiable. My realtor wanted me to sign an "exclusive representation" contract that guaranteed her commission at 3% (ie, if the MLS split commission was 2.5% to her, we would have to pay an additional 0.5% out of pocket). She also wanted a fixed commission fee on top of her 3% commission. I flat out refused on both. I would not sign anything that would contractually tie me to her in case we had to part ways in the house hunting process. She would get whatever cut that was dictated in the house we bought, nothing more. Ultimately she agreed to this, still made her 3%, and did quite well.
The closing costs with your lender and title company are also negiotable. I was able to shave off close to 1.5K from our closing costs by negotiating with my lender ahead of time.
Pay your own closing costs. Having the seller pay is a scam that inflates your sale price and you end up paying for it through your mortgage. If you don't have the cash on hand to pay your own closing costs, buy a less expensive home (or don't buy at all).
Find homes yourself in addition to ones brought to you by your realtor. The house we bought I found on my own through an MLS listing website. I forwarded the list of homes we liked to my realtor and she set up the showings.
Hire your own home inspector, don't go with the one recommended by your realtor. Your agent vested interest is getting the house to closing. Your interest is to make sure you make an informed decision. We hired an inspector from Angies List and he was excellent. There were no surprises after we moved in.
I don't know. I think they were unwilling to face the reality that there house was no longer worth the inflated value from the peak of the bubble.
I do know that now I am glad I didn't get them to negotiate a price we could both agree on!
How did it backfire? You weren't willing to pay their price, and apparently they weren't interested in selling at the current market. The rest is between them and their insurance company (and law enforcement if your suspicions happen to be correct).
And the house would possibly still have burned down a year later.
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Originally Posted by searching for prudence
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton
Don't worry about 'offending a seller' with a lower offer; - Their counter offer (or lack thereof), will quickly reveal just how low they are willing to go.
. . .
How did it backfire? You weren't willing to pay their price, and apparently they weren't interested in selling at the current market. The rest is between them and their insurance company (and law enforcement if your suspicions happen to be correct).
Aside from the whole "burned to the ground" thing, I offended them with the $75K discount, thus the prickly counter non-offer. if I had instead started at something closer to what I was actually willing to pay, the owners might not have been offended, and we could have eventually negotiated an agreeable price.
The land. garage, and burnt out shell sold for $180K, so I don't think I was that far off in my initial offer.
This is a really good one Blondy. As part of this test, carefully check the egress getting out of your neighborhood. I knew of someone who bought in a neighborhood off of a heavily traveled road. One way in and out. No traffic signals. He discovered that when he needed to get out and head to work that it was almost impossible to do so. It was a line of cars waiting to get out of his neighborhood into bumper to bumper traffic on the main drag. He wound up having to leave much earlier just to get out of his neighborhood. Who would have thought? His QOL suffered from day one.
These replies are excellent. I had not considered too many of them myself in my buying and selling days. The value of an ethical, experienced agent is huge. I tend to think most of them are amateurish. Thanks to the agents who replied here. Wish there were more of you.
Agree with looking more than once, at different times of the day. At first, my agent didn't want to show me anything after dark, but I convinced her to. Also MEASURE. This is especially important if you are buying a smaller place or an older place-- sometimes your beloved sofa won't fit through the door or your dining table is too big for the room. Not a reason to pass, necessarily, but if the sofa or the dining set is grandma's heirloom, you may want to know if it will fit up front.
Interview several agents and let them know that you are looking at several people before signing anything. And don't bother looking at the top of your price range-- banks will always approve you for far more than you feel comfortable affording. Often, the more expensive properties on your list are the most impressive.
As far as closing costs go, they were NOT negotiable in my area. I know that they are in some. I live in a very transparent, high cost of living urban market where closing costs are very aggressive. Make sure you know up front what they run in your area and have that cash handy.
Those are some of the lessons I've learned over 5 houses bought and sold. They are all money pits in some fashion.
You speak the truth Ollie!
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Originally Posted by Ollie1946
The value of an ethical, experienced agent is huge. I tend to think most of them are amateurish. Thanks to the agents who replied here. Wish there were more of you.
This!! It starts and ends with them so having an excellent one makes all the stuff in the middle a much better experience. We have not had good ones. Most were lazy at best...and fraudulent and deceitful at worst. We have yet to recover from the last purchase and doubt we ever will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by confusedasusual
Agree with looking more than once, at different times of the day. At first, my agent didn't want to show me anything after dark, but I convinced her to.
This is a great idea too. We found a house we liked several years ago. We met there one evening after work and it got dark while we were there. What we realized at that time was the house was sitting at the end of a dead end street with a stop sign to turn left or right and everyone's headlights shined straight in. Even with blinds it was noticeable as it was directed right in the living room that had a large window with a half moon on top. It was in a neighborhood and was an exit out so a lot of traffic.
My last bit of advice is to be thorough..with everything. Sellers lie. Don't have the mindset that if something goes wrong you will just sue. Those words are so easily said but to actually successfully do that is an uphill battle.
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And the house would possibly still have burned down a year later.
