Home Buyer Series: How to take the headaches out of buying a Home by a Hudson Florida Realtor::: Part III Alright, so you after my preceding blog posts, you now know how to take the headaches out of buying your home. Post I in which I discussed getting your Credit and Mortgage in order first, than Post II in which I discussed learning about all the additional costs that go into a home purchase and home ownership Now we are going to take a look at going out and viewing homes you found of interest. This has gotten a lot easier since the internet. The color digital pictures, the virtual tours, the satellite and sometimes street-level views of property help eliminate a lot of homes that you would have other wise visited in the past.
A very important aspect, I can not stress enough, is to let your Realtor do the driving. First of all, he should be familiar with the area. Secondly, you want to take the time between houses to discuss the home you just left, pros and cons, as well as get briefed on the home you are about to see. Also buyers who are not driving are better able to pay attention to all the surroundings: shopping plazas; condition of the community common grounds; condition of homes in the community/on the block/neighbors; schools; number of children in neighborhood; neglect/upkeep of properties; and just be more aware of everything that brings value, or takes away from,the home in question.
Now you drive up to the home of interest. This is when the sellers curb appeal hastens the sale or impedes it. It is hard to overcome an initial bad impression, but it can be done. From the initial impression you take a closer look at the outside..
Now lets knock on the door to make sure the seller is not home. As a listing agent I hate it when my seller does not leave the house, but as a buyers agent I love it. I encourage my buyers to ask the sellers as much as possible in order to get them to tip their hand about problems with the house or reasons for selling. In that vain, I also encourage my buyers to speak with neighbors about the house, the community, the schools, etc...
At this point in time, I have seen a lot of Realtors (at open houses) become salesmen, trying to push the product. That is not my style. Instead I allow my clients to 'take it in.' I am looking for problems/concerns/highlights.
The best clients I have had to date, was a Licensed Realtor & Appraiser, whose wife knew 'exactly what she wanted.' Every house I took them to, she walked around while we made a beeline to the garage to check the electrical and the HVAC. At most houses she was quietly sitting in the car waiting for 'us guys' to finish with the mechanical because she had no interest. Why, I usually never found out, but most houses we were out of in under 5 minutes. Which was a good thing because we did a marathon of showings that weekend. 45 houses in 2.5 days. Unfortunately not everybody is as savy and sophisticated a homebuyer.
This is where a person going it alone can really learn a lesson about not only home buying, but shopping in general. Different people look at things in different ways. I look at structural. Typically men are drawn to the appliances, the electrical panel. the structure, and the living room. Typically women are interested in the kitchen, the bathrooms, the layout and the flow. All of these are important, but if one or two out of the three is not there, there is a chance you will miss an important issue, be it positive or negative. It still amazes me how few people here in my neck of the woods start the home with "I want to live in this school district!'' That has always been my families first parameter. Not just my immediate family, but all my relatives I have ever met, regardless of whether they had kids, planned on having kids, or were empty nesters.
Back to the shopping for the home though. I also encourage a buyer to bring their digital camera while viewing homes. Take a pic of the front of the house and you can match it up with the listing sheet. Than take pics of all the plus' and minus' of each house. It is nice to have something to look at while discussing something, especially when one party may have overlooked an issue, be it positive or negative.
At this time Buyers can usually knock the majority of homes off the list without any real discussion. Than they have just a couple homes to consider. What does that involve?
after this discussion is where we will pick up with part IV in this series of How to take the headaches out of buying a Home
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WONDERFUL post! And I LOVE the Lego camera! :)
I love my RE broker clients. They are not browsers. They're usually 'on a mission'!