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Complete Real Estate Resources for Today's Internet Saavy Consumer
Don't get Pre-Qualified...GET PRE-APPROVED!
To get the best house for the best price, make sure you are in the strongest possible negotiating position. Price is only one bargaining chip in the negotiations, and not necessarily the most important one. Often other terms, such as the strength of the buyer or proposed date of closing are critical to a seller. In years past, we always recommended that buyers get "pre-qualified" by a lender. This means that you spend a few minutes on the phone with a lender who asks you a few questions. Based on the answers, the lender pronounces you "pre-qualified" and issues a certificate that you can show to a seller. Sellers are aware that such certificates are WORTHLESS, and here's why! None of the information has been verified! Often unknown problems surface! Some of the problems we've seen include recorded judgments, child support payments due, glitches on the credit report due to any number of reasons both accurately and inaccurately, down payments that have not been in the clients' bank account long enough, etc. Therefore, the way to make a strong offer today is to get "pre-approved". This happens AFTER all information has been checked and verified. You are actually APPROVED for the loan and the only loose end is the appraisal on the property. This process takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on your situation. It's VERY POWERFUL weapon that we recommend all our clients have in their negotiating arsenal. Sell First, Then Buy If you have a house to sell, sell it before selecting a house to buy! We rarely see contingent sales work, unless it's with a new home builder who has other houses to sell and can afford to put one on a contingency. Let's pretend that we go out looking for the perfect house for you. We find it and you love it! Now you have to go make an offer to the seller. You want the seller to reduce the price and wait until you sell your house. The seller figures that's a risky deal, since he might pass up a buyer who DOESN'T have to sell a house while he's waiting for you. So he says OK, he'll accept the contingency but it has to be a full price offer! So you see, you paid more for the house than you could have because of the contingency. Now you have to sell your existing house, and in a hurry! Otherwise you lose the dream house! So to sell quickly you might take an offer that's lower than if you had more time. Another thing to consider is that in our market, sellers who have a contingent offer on their home may accept another offer which supersedes yours. The bottom line is that buying before selling might cost you TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars. If you're concerned that there is not a house on the market for you, then go on a window-shopping trip. You can identify possible houses and locations without falling in love with a specific house. If you feel confident after that then put your house on the market. Play the Game of Nines Before house hunting, make a list of nine things you want in the new place. Then make a list of the nine things you don't want. We call this "NINE OF THIS AND NONE OF THAT". You can use this list as a scorecard to rate each property that you see. The one with the biggest score wins! This helps avoid confusion and keeps things in perspective when you're comparing dozens of homes. When house hunting, keep in mind the difference between "SKIN AND BONES". The BONES are things that cannot be changed such as the location, view, size of lot, noise in the area, school district, and floor plan. The SKIN represents easily changed surface finishes like carpet, wallpaper, color, and window coverings. Buy the house with good BONES, because the SKIN can always be changed to match your tastes. We recommend that you imagine each house as if it were vacant. Consider each house on its underlying merits, not the seller's decorating skills. Don't Be Pushed Into Any House Your agent should show you everything available that meets your requirements. Don't make a decision on a house until you feel that you've seen enough to pick the best one. Go to the Multiple Listing computer with your agent to make sure that you are getting a COMPLETE list. Don't forget to check into the SCHOOL DISTRICTS of the area you're considering. Information is available on our site at the "Our Schools" button. This button takes you directly to the South Carolina Department of Education's Official site. There you'll find a complete listing of the schools, curriculum, faculty, test scores and statistics, etc. It is a very useful site! Stop Calling Ads! A word of caution - agents create ads solely to make the phone ring! Remember that the person writing the ad is representing the seller and not you! The most important thing you can do is have someone on your side (Dottie & Elizabeth) looking out for your best interests. We will critique the property with an eye towards how well it meets your needs and will point out any drawbacks you should know about. But whether you decide to work with us or not, pick an agent you feel comfortable with and enlist the services of that agent as a buyer's broker. Then you become a client with all the rights, benefits, and privileges created by that agency relationship, and you're no longer just a shopper. Did you know that many homes are sold without a sign ever going up or an ad ever being put in the paper? These "great deals" go to those people who are committed to working with one agent. When an agent hears of a great buy, who do you think she's going to call? Her client, who she has a relationship with, or someone who just called on the phone and said "keep your eyes open"? So to get the best buy on a property, we recommend that you hire your own agent and stick with her. -Dottie and Elizabeth Webber
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