Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If it is not a museum, why even bother looking at something that is not within one's price range?! Makes no sense to me! I have no time, or energy, for that.
Because you may set one budget (like we did) and then wind up finding something you really love that's more expensive and buy that instead.
Remember...what people CAN pay and what people WANT to pay can be very, very different. We wanted a very low percentage of our budget to be the house because we have so many other interests...so we started off capping our budget much lower than we could afford and pretty much only looked at those houses. But we wound up buying more house in the end.
I think every person is different.
I would set a budget and stick to it, but that is just my way to do things, and I understand there are people who might act differently.
If it is not a museum, why even bother looking at something that is not within one's price range?! Makes no sense to me! I have no time, or energy, for that.
With some buyers, realtors should make more money on commissions, they have to have an incredible amount of patience. I would probably be fired within the first week!
Yeah... I agree. That's why I'd never ask my realtor to show me that sweet house down the street that's got a 2.5 mil price tag.
If there was an open house, otoh... I might take a look for decorating ideas.
Because you may set one budget (like we did) and then wind up finding something you really love that's more expensive and buy that instead.
Remember...what people CAN pay and what people WANT to pay can be very, very different. We wanted a very low percentage of our budget to be the house because we have so many other interests...so we started off capping our budget much lower than we could afford and pretty much only looked at those houses. But we wound up buying more house in the end.
Stan, you were right.
You and the wife might be our Texan dopplegangers.
LOL!
We are in the same boat. We have a lower budget, so we can save more for travel, retirement, etc. By more, I mean "more than is typical."
However, we CAN spend more on housing. For the right house.
And still travel.
We may just be doing less overseas trips or long stays at the Four Seasons.
You and the wife might be our Texan dopplegangers.
LOL!
We are in the same boat. We have a lower budget, so we can save more for travel, retirement, etc. By more, I mean "more than is typical."
However, we CAN spend more on housing. For the right house.
And still travel.
We may just be doing less overseas trips or long stays at the Four Seasons.
Actually, because we waited so long to find the perfect house, we wound up collecting a much larger down payment and we were able to both buy a more expensive house AND not affect our lifestyle one iota.
Yes...we are the samesies.
Our plan was to make our housing expenses not even blip on our radar...because we like to save, invest, etc...and when we do buy something, we like really nice things (like vacations).
When you say you have "no confidence in your Realtor" but that they were the only one who would take the listing - RED FLAG- RED FLAG - RED FLAG. What was the reason you could only get one Realtor to take your listing?
Touring a house is one thing. Making an official offer is another! Why would you want to limit your pool of buyers? Requiring a pre-approved letter just to view a house for sale is a bit, for the lack of a better term, snooty. It's a turn off. A pre-approved letter don't hold much water anyway. Anyone can get that letter. It's the underwriter(s) who has you by the balls!
The bottom line is, smart professional Realtors (buyers' agents) qualify the buyer at the first meeting; if the buyers have a pre approval letter they can tell the Realtor privately. They don't just put the folks in the car and go making appointments without knowing if they have a solid buyer or not. That would be stupid, but yes, there are some agents who are spaceshots, but they don't last long. Especially now at $3.75/gal. for gas. In many areas of the country, a Realtor is required to get a copy of the clients' driver's license number and identification, for safety purposes. Realtors who have very little knowledge of who they are putting in their car, are dummies; and are literally bringing "strangers" into private homes.
It does not take long to qualify a buyer and learn their buying motivation. Do they need to sell a house in East Cupcake before they can buy? very important these days. Many like to go out at the brokers' expense to get a "feel" for the area. The good agents know how to ask the right questions.
Yes, you absolutely can require that the agents bring in qualified buyers only. If they can't buy "until next year", they can come back next year.
Touring a house is one thing. Making an official offer is another! Why would you want to limit your pool of buyers? Requiring a pre-approved letter just to view a house for sale is a bit, for the lack of a better term, snooty. It's a turn off. A pre-approved letter don't hold much water anyway. Anyone can get that letter. It's the underwriter(s) who has you by the balls!
Any good, busy realtor is going to require his buyer have a pre-approval before showing them ANY house anyway, so if I were the OP, I wouldn't so much worry about it nor do I think it limits an incredible list of people.
And I think you're confusing a pre-qual and a pre-approval. The pre-qualification anyone surfing the internet can get simply by putting their unverified income into an engine and pushing send, essentially. The pre-approval can take up to a week and a lender associate goes over actual bank statements and income receipts of the buyer. Not just anyone can get that and it does hold water. (I think you confused it with a pre-qualification, which doesn't hold any water.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
