|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com |
|
|
Buying a Home: The 5 Biggest Mistakes that a Home Buyer Makes
As a Professional Real Estate Inspector I get to see and hear the right and wrong things people do when buying a home. These 5 tips will help you choose the right Real Estate Agent the first time. Mistake #1: Not using an agent at all or using the Listing Agent as your 'Agent'. Not smart at all. By law, the listing agent is required to keep the Sellers best interest at stake, not yours! Why would anyone enter into a relationship handicapped like this? I'm not aware of any state that makes a Buyer pay for their Agent. The Buyers agent normally gets paid from a cut of the Listing fees or the commissions are split. If you choose wisely, you can put a trained real estate professional on your side for free! A true Buyers agent can help you negotiate a contract, fly through the mountain of paperwork, help you find the right home and help you schedule the needed inspections and appointments necessary when you do find your dream home. Mistake #2: Relying on the Home Inspector your Agent recommends: I'm still amazed at how many people will blindly take the advice and recommendation of their Agent, or of the Listing Agent, when choosing an Inspector. The agents have a financial stake in seeing the deal go through. Why risk the conflict of interest by solely relying on their choice of Inspectors? With a little research you can find your own home inspector who will have your best interest at stake. Don't know where to start? The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) has an easy to use search tool on their web site. You can choose by zip code or by state and city. You can find it here: http://www.ashi.org Mistake #3: Putting up "Non-Refundable" earnest money. This is like giving the Sellers a check and saying, "Here, you keep this. Even if we don't buy your home, you can keep our money". That's just plain stupid. If your Agent recommends it, find another agent because they don't have your best interest at stake. I've seen Sellers request up to a $20,000 non-refundable earnest money check. Luckily my Client had a good agent and she told the Listing Agent "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. We'll give you the standard $1000 refundable earnest check. Take it or find another Buyer." The Seller accepted rather quickly since her home had been sitting on the market for 5 months. Mistake #4: Falling in love with the home: "Earth to love struck home Buyer, they're building more homes every day!" The one group of consumers I see getting taken advantage of the most are those that "fall in love" with a home. They will accept any terms set by a Seller. They will buy the home and tell themselves "It just needs a little work, I can do that myself." Even though they have never picked up a hammer in their life. They let their "love" cloud their vision and Judgement and end up paying hefty 'stupid tax'. Mistake #5: Buying more home than what they can afford. There is a rule of thumb that says you should not buy a home that cost you more per month that 20 to 25% of your take home pay. I rarely see anyone following that rule of thumb today. What I do see is consumers buying homes that take a large part of their monthly income. This leaves little room in their finances for emergency's, furniture, vacations, investing, etc. With the relaxed lending requirements, people are buying way more home than what they can realistically afford. If you go down this road, chances are that you'll grow to hate this home. You should own a home, the home should not own you. I'm not a real estate agent, broker or attorney, nor am I a financial consultant nor do I claim to be an expert in any of these fields. The above views are my own and have been obtained from experiences in the Home Inspection field. Always consult with your financial planner and/or Real Estate Agent before making any decisions. Donald Lawson is a Professional Real Estate Inspector licensed in Oklahoma (454) and Texas (#5824) and currently owns V.I.P. Home Inspections in Houston Texas. V.I.P. Home Inspections is a multi-inspector firm that inspects both commercial and residential inspections. You can find out more by clicking on this link to his site: http://www.best2inspect.com
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Raising Money For Property Development In addition to finding the right property, one of the most difficult aspects of property development is being able to fund the purchase and re-development of the property before putting it back on the market. Top Tips for Buying and Selling a Home Buyers How Do I Implement The Lease Purchase Plan? Well, as we have discussed in previous newsletters first you have to set up goals for yourself, both long term and short term. Don't forget these goals define how your business is run. They will determine what you do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The best way to do this is to picture yourself a year down the road. Close your eyes and get a mental picture of where you want to be, what you want to have, how you want to look, then open your eyes and write all that down on paper or speak into a voice recorder. Real Estate Investing Deals That SkyRocket Your Net Worth 10-Fold Consider these parameters for a real estate deal: Good Faith Deposit ? Real Estate Transactions In a real estate transaction, a touchy issue is how much trust the seller has in a buyer. The existence of a good faith deposit helps put a seller at rest. Mortgage Broker Training: How to Secure Loyalty From Realtors So you've just returned to your office after delivering an Oscar worthy presentation to a real estate agent. They're impressed and ready to do business with you. In fact, they promised to refer their next buyer to you. Good job, now you can kick your feet up on your desk and wait and wait and wait?. Vacation Homes Are Becoming A Reality For More Homeowners Whether it's a lakefront cottage or a log cabin in the woods, a vacation home often seems to be a dream that only the wealthy can afford. But these days, you don't have to be a millionaire to own one. Negotiating and Sales Skills Are Critical When I first started getting active in creative real estate, my skill set at negotiating was very weak. I had done the telemarketing thing for American Express as a financial planner and had studied and learned a few techniques. On the surface one might think that would be a perfect tie-in to talking to sellers about their properties and their financial situation. I can promise you it wasn't. Using The Internet In Your Lease Purchase Business First you need to find a list of For Sale By Owner Sites. You do this by going to one of the major search engines. Our two favorites are Yahoo and Google, but any one of them will do. Enter For Sale By Owner (FSBO) as your search words. After you search for FSBOs you will get a bunch of sites to go visit. Visit them, check them out, see how they work, and the ones you like put in a favorites folder entitled FSBOs. Building Your Dream Home - Part 1 For most of my adult life I had thought about someday building my Dream Home. Several years ago I finally got the chance. I had purchased a lake front lot with a small cottage on it. My initial intention was to use the property "as is", and someday raze the old cottage and build a new home in its place. After a couple of weekends in the musty old camp I came to the conclusion that I needed to speed up my timetable. Real Estate Bubble: Fact or Fiction? The real estate market buzz across the country these days revolves around the anticipated and much feared "bubble". The implication is that once burst, prices will spiral downward taking with them the major assets of those foolish enough to buy at a time when disaster looms large. It could happen. 10 ?No Money Down? Ways to Buy Real Estate Turn the Television on any Sunday morning and you'll find yourself in the middle of a "how to buy real estate" infomercial. Can you really buy a house with no down payment? Can you really make thousands or millions of dollars buying real estate. Of course the answer is "yes" and "no". The real question is, are you willing to pay anywhere from $500 to $5000 for the information, classes and hotline? Most important are you self disciplined enough to follow the program. Odors Can Make or Break The Sale of Your Home It's amazing how important the sense of smell is to many people. If you're selling your home, and this applies across the board to houses, townhouses, condos, apartments, or whatever, you need to be aware of the power of odors. An odor like cigarette smoke can cause potential buyers to leave quickly without ever really considering purchasing your home. On the other hand, an odor like that of bread baking can conjure up all sorts of homey feelings and cause the same potential buyer to linger. Fixing Houses: Mixing Your Own Paint for Savings and Harmony To make the maximum profit on your investment properties, you'll need to save money wherever you can. One way to save significant amounts of money is to mix your own paint. How to Buy a Home When Your in Your Twenties A Single's Game of Real Estate(Getting started in your twenties) Purchasing Land: What To Look For It doesn't take long to realize that finding the right piece of property is the most important aspect of new home construction. In a development, restrictions and easements have already been sorted out, but if you are looking for a stand-alone piece of vacant land, you're on your own. Here are some of the factors you need to consider before spending your hard-earned cash on a pretty view that might be unbuildable. Is a Vacation Home Right for You? Many of us dream about owning the vacation home in the Mountains, or on the Lake or Ocean. A place where one can retreat periodically from the hustle-bustle of everyday life. However, for those who do achieve the financial resources to make such a purchase, there are several factors that should be considered first prior to taking the plunge. How to Qualify For 90% Plus Commercial Financing!!! There are three important questions that you must understand and answer correctly in order to achieve 90% plus commercial financing! Where to go to locate it? What type of project will qualify? And last, how to negotiate for it? How to Get the Best Price for Your House The best price to sell your home is always determined by how you compare against your competition, the house down the street. If your property looks better than the next guy's the customer will buy yours. Why is Now the Time to Buy in Turkey? Turkey is a paradise of sun, sea, mountains, and lakes that offers the vacationer a complete change from the stress and routine of everyday life. From April to October, most places in Turkey have an ideal climate that is perfect for relaxing on sandy beaches or enjoying the tranquility of mountains and lakes.
|
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |
