Here’s what I have been noticing lately. First time buyers who are asking for the moon but have earthly money and expectations.
Yes there are a lot of other people losing their homes. Yes you may well be able to get those homes at a lower pricing than they had originally paid for the home. Yes, you may be able to finally move into a home of your own with all the responsibilities that do go with that move. And finally yes, you may be able to take advantage of the national IRS tax credit for moving now. You may though need to take 2 steps backward as far as optimum area from where or how you are currently living to be able to get your foothold on that homeownership dream. Just remember we want/need you in a home of your own.
First let me be one of the first to congratulate you on actually FINALLY making that move. Neighborhoods are stabilized by having more homeowners than renters living there. Homeowners actually have to care more about a neighborhood and its well being than a renter and the landlords because they are supposed to be living there longer; say 10-15 years; or at least 5-7. The time goes quickly when you are trying to make this new place a home and not just a house where you live and come to rest your head at the end of a long day’s work.
We will invest a lot of time in you and are banking on your integrity and honesty with us. Kind of have an idea or a feel to what the home of your dream is. We will try to find it for you, if it’s available, now that you are ready. You need to be patient. The right house will hit you. I really do mean literally. It will hit you and you will know that you have found it. Even if you are thinking of it as a move up house/home for you. It will reach out and touch you. Or at least the neighborhood will. You will be haunted in your sleep regarding this house and very disappointed if your offer is not accepted. And super elated when it is. As you should be.
Now give your Realtor® a little slack. We should be previewing and eliminating the homes before you see it so we know what we are taking you to. Sometimes, but rarely, we will ask you to see the house without us. The circumstances would probably be that you needed to see this one immediately and we had a prior appointment with another buyer. Please go to it and let us know immediately if it’s a go or no go. It’s probably a property we think is in very high demand. Not all the houses on the market that seem to meet your preordained requirements actually do. That is our job to really weed them out so you are not wasting your time. When we say this is a house you should jump on, if you trust us, you should jump on it. Reason being if we have the money and credit, we would for ourselves. No joke. Most of us do not have the extra disposable money or credit to carry another investment property, so we will find a buyer for this house we think you should have jumped at. Ask us why we think it is such a great home for you and we will tell you. Be honest with us back though. Our feelings are not hurt if you do not agree with our choices. This is a business. You are our customer. We are not working for ourselves when we are working for you, we are working for you. Let us know what we need to tweak for you.
Now, when we tell you that you need to speak to the banker and have that pre approval letter in hand when we first meet and you will need to make sure we have updated financials on you, please help us and do it or have them ready when we write the offer(s) for you. We, personally are not interested in your personal financial shape, just can you comfortably qualify for this home and get a loan that is comfortable for you unless you are a cash buyer. It does neither of us any good to put you in a place where you may default on it 3, 6 or even a year or two out. No good at all. You will to person blame us. Even though we are the least culpable in this. We can only go by the information you and your banker provide us. Your banker knew, you knew, you knew your future financial prospects or expectations, but we are more than likely to get the harshest brunt of the blame when things go wrong in your new home purchase. If we tell you it will take 4-6 months to get an approval for that short sale home, please believe us and add on 2 more months for just in case something goes wrong or there is another delay on the seller’s part. Please believe, we want to put you in the best place for your money. Unless of course you just insist on being in a neighborhood we see no future in. There may be extenuating circumstances for your choice. Let us know what they are. We can keep this in the back of our mind when we are culling through our lists.
There are some caveats to purchasing that first home. You need to take care of it or be able to hire service providers who can for you. Paint and new carpet or flooring or the yard or lacks there of, if there is space, are inexpensive if you love the house but don’t like these items. The current homeowner did them for their family as you will for yours. The important items are, does the house and its surrounding area suit you? Construction, such as moving a toilet, adding a room, changing a kitchen and its fixtures are or can be expensive. So can be homes with no permits for the additions or changes made by the previous owner. Please do not dismiss the non permitted items. They can bury you financially. If this is your first home, I would not advise you to start there. Stick with cosmetic fixable items only.
Now back to the purchase of this your new home. Let me also just tell you now, that finding that perfect for now house for you is only 1/3 of our job. We also need to meet all the inspector, appraisers, workpeople that need access to your property, do some background research if necessary, make sure you are given in a timely manner your forms and publications, regulations information, and lastly make sure you understand ALL that you are signing. And getting your keys when they said you would.
Here’s how you can help us. Make sure and interview us. If your gut does not feel comfortable working with us; DON’T. All in all it all boils down to a gut feeling not a logical reason as to why we do what we do. You will be asked to sign a buyer agreement and you should. It holds both of us accountable to each other for the duration of our working relationship. Work with one realtor at a time. If a reputable realtor finds out that you are cheating on them or trying to undercut them, we will drop you. That said, if you do not wish to work with us anymore let use know and why. Let us know your work schedule as much in advance as possible so we can schedule showings at your convenience, unless we say we have a hot one for you to see. Sometimes we may have to write an offer sight unseen, we can always get out of an accepted contract if you do not like it once you have seen the interior. There are some things beyond our control.
Most of all though, we just want you to ENJOY YOUR NEW HOME
Herm.
