Five Powerful Buying Strategies
In today’s crazy Richmond area real estate housing market, making rational decisions based on sound information is a must! In reality, emotions often take over, and sometimes, it’s all you can do not to lose all conscientiousness when you think you have found that dream home. But if you’ll follow these buying strategies, you should find yourself in complete control of the home purchase.
1 – Work out your finances first. Paying cash? Getting a mortgage? Find out what you can afford and check out all your various options.
Meet with whatever experts you need to in order to have all your facts – a lender, your tax advisor, etc. Knowing exactly what you want to and can spend will eliminate time spent looking at properties you can’t have (or have no business trying to obtain).
When you find the right property you can make a “clean” offer without a financing contingency. Sellers are more likely to respond favorably to clean offers without a bunch of financing contingencies.
2 – Unless you really want to own two properties, sell first, then buy. The property you want may or may not take a contingency offer. So unless you are prepared to own both (and you have to plan for a worst case scenario) you are wasting your time with the offer if you still have a home to sell.
Second, if you are emotionally attached to what you want to buy you won’t be as objective on selling your home. You may take less than it’s worth just so you don’t lose the other home. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you understand the financial implications.
3 – Use a real estate professional who knows the market. That may sound simple in this age of the internet, when buyers have access to the same data the agent has. The difference is the ability to interpret that data.
Full-time real estate professionals do more than just show homes and write contracts. They study market trends and observe area fluctuations. You are thinking about your needs now. But your agent is thinking about both now and in the future when you are ready to sell again and looking for your future resale opportunities.
In addition, the internet is an increasingly non-objective source of information. Many websites do not display all the properties for sale in a given area because of contractual conflicts. And most new communities are not listed at all in any search vehicle. A real estate professional should be able to show you all the homes that fit your needs.
4 – Don’t get pressured into making a decision. When you find the right home you will know it.
That doesn’t mean look at 100 homes before you make a decision. Sometimes it’s the first home you see. But don’t let an agent, a seller, or a spouse, push you into something you don’t feel good about.
5 – You can’t have it all. Decide what is most important in your next home and put it into perspective. If it’s location, or price, or view, or square footage, or school districts, or amenities, or whatever.
Remember — some things can be changed. Floors, kitchens, landscaping, etc. are all changeable. So if they are not perfect, they can be worked out. But location, view, amenities, etc. are there forever. Not muching changing that part of the purchase.
No matter what your budget, everyone has to make compromises. So decide what truly matters to you and put that at the top of your list. Give in on what doesn’t matter as much.
If you have other questions or comments about this list of Home Buying Strategies, just use the ‘comment’ link below and we’ll get back to you with answers.