Don’t Fall Into The Home Buyer Traps!

Finding the right home takes some thought and patience.  Buying a home takes a bit of guts and trust in oneself.  But even with all of those things in place, there are some unseen traps out there for buyers which will waste your time and drain your energy.

Knowing where to look and how to search is as important as knowing what price to offer and how to put together a mortgage.  Yet, there is little advice on the topic despite the wide array of resources out there.

Here is how you need to go about your home search, if you are serious about buying and you value your time.

First of all, know what you want.  I’ve written about this over and over again and can’t stress it enough.  It seems very obvious and perhaps even silly to say such a thing.  Yet, much of the work I did as an agent with buyers is just trying to figure out what they want.  Honestly, this was probably one of the most interesting aspects of the job for me, because this is where I got to know the clients best.  But this can be very frustrating for the buyer.  The lack of clarity often leads to lots of pointless searches and sometimes even failed transactions.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you want what others have, or wanting something that won’t suit your needs (i.e. a small condo in the city when you want to start a family and have two big dogs running around).  Clarity!

Next, find an agent.  An agent should know the market, know the neighborhood and be trustworthy.  You’ll be spending a lot of time together, so please be open and honest with your agent and find someone you like.  Don’t fall into the trap of working with someone because he or she is related to your boss, or because he or she is super nice but basically useless.

Then comes the searching itself.  I get so many phone calls and emails for outdated listings, homes that sold months and even years ago.  There are many websites that seem to have a large selection of homes, but many of the listings are not current.  The caller is always disappointed and annoyed, and feels like it’s a trap, but I am not the one posting old listings – these sites are often outdated and I don’t know why.

Instead of getting caught up in different websites and what they claim is on market, ask your agent to set you up with the local Multiple Listing System feed which will be the absolute, hands down, no doubt about it BEST source for listings where you want to live.  It is where the agents are updating their information and the status of listings must be current within 24 hours.

Ask you agent what is the best way to receive information, some locations have non-MLS systems or all sorts of alternatives and supplements of current information.

The only listings that are not on MLS are some  of the for-sale-by-owner.  But even most of those list there as well.

Once you are at a home you like, carefully review the listing details.  Your agent must do the same.  Look for any disparities between what is written and what you see.  Pay careful attention to disclosures.  You want to methodically review the seller’s statement of the home’s condition, if it is available.  You’ll be requested to sign it, so look at it BEFORE you make an offer.  In my experience, an common unintentional trap has been to only receive the sellers’ statement of the home’s condition AFTER an offer has been presented and accepted.  So please ask for it in case the listing broker  forgot.

Go, search, buy.  Just watch your step.  Happy hunting!

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