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Buying a home can be a pleasant or frustrating experience. We’ve talked about four things you should do to avoid frustration:
Those four things will get your home search off to an excellent start. There are other things that you should not do once your search is underway. It can be easy to sabotage a home search or make it much more difficult than it needs to be.
Things You SHOULD NOT Do
1. Don’t expect to find everything on your wish list. If you’ve done your homework, you know what you’d like in a neighborhood and a home. That gives you a place to start when you’re looking at specific homes. However, if you believe that you will find a home that matches everything on your home and neighborhood lists, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
If you’ve made a list and prioritized those things you can’t live without and those things that would be nice to have, you’ve already made your decision-making process easier. Set your expectations realistically to find the perfect spot for your next home.
2. Don’t look at homes above your price range. It can be a big disappointment if you fall in love with a home that you can’t comfortably afford. For some people, once they’re in that situation, it makes it almost impossible for them to consider reasonable alternatives.
Hopefully, you’ve prepared yourself by getting Pre-Approved for a mortgage. Once you decide what you’re comfortable spending, don’t even consider homes that are above that dollar figure.
3. Don’t make unreasonably low offers. Keep in mind that the person selling their home is in a relatively stressful position. They may want to move, but they don’t want to give their home away. And, many times, especially if the homeowner has lived in a house for a long time, the owner is very invested in the home and proud of it and its value.
Work with your agent to review “comparables,” meaning other homes that are similar to the home you’re interested in, that have sold in the same area. Use that information to determine a fair market value and make a realistic offer.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t negotiate, but an extremely low offer can insult the owners and make them think you’re not serious. It’s happened more than once that an owner has refused to negotiate with someone who made a very low offer. You may never get the chance to negotiate a fair market price if the owner slams the door closed after your first contact.
4. Don’t try to make money on the home inspection. Consider a situation where you make an offer knowing that there is going to be a hidden cost such as the need for basement waterproofing or electrical upgrades. Your strategy is to make a reasonable initial offer knowing that a home inspection will uncover the hidden costs.
After the inspection, you plan to make money by negotiating a much lower sales price or by arranging for the seller to complete a premiere job of the repair. This strategy almost always backfires.
The problem is that a fix that is critical to you may not be viewed as critical to the seller or other home buyers. What you consider to be a premiere job may seem like unnecessary extravagance to the seller or other buyers. A contract that is contingent on a home inspection can be abandoned by either party. If the seller thinks your demands are unreasonable, they will simply void the contract and find another buyer. Do your negotiating before the contract is signed.
If you want more tips on how to complete a successful transaction, please call us at 954-242-8030 or send an email. Our expertise and local knowledge can help you to complete a home purchase without the drama!
If you’re looking for family fun in Davie, Florida, you may already know about local water parks. But, in June, 2016 you’ll have the chance to ride the biggest water chute you’ve ever seen!
If your kids love getting outside and getting wet, you have a choice of several water parks located within minutes of Davie. For example:
Paradise Cove – This park is in Pembroke Pines and offers three water slides, the longest of which is 450 feet long. You’ll also find play equipment especially for children who are five years old and under. Lifeguards are on duty.
Castaway Island – Located in the T.Y. Park in Hollywood, this park boasts a toddler’s play area with a toddler-sized water slide and other play equipment. Older kids will enjoy the large waterslide, waterfall and climbing areas. Lifeguards are on duty.
Tropical Splash – The Central Broward Regional Park hosts this water wonderland that caters to both toddlers and older children with shallow pools, slippery slides and water guns. Lifeguards are on duty.
On June 4, a Utah-based company will host Slide the City, a day-long water-slide extravaganza. The event will be held in the Vista View Park in Davie, Florida. Join the fun that includes live music and fun food.
The slide itself holds a world record. It is three lanes wide and 1,000 feet long, which is about one-fifth mile long, or the length of three football fields. Vista View Park is the perfect place to unroll the monster slide because of its 55-foot hill, which will keep riders zooming along to the end of the ride.
You can bring your own inflatable tube or rent one at the Park. Tickets are on sale now and you can take advantage of discounts by registering in advance. Get more information about advance ticket sales at the Slide the City website. You can register for one slide, a set of three or become an Ultimate Slider and take as many rides as you can between 9am and noon.
Part of the fun is reliving the monster slide experience. If you want real action photos to commemorate the day, save your wristband, then visit the Flo-Foto website a few days after the event. You can use your wristband information to find any photos that were taken with you and your family as the stars of the shot!
If you haven’t yet joined the ranks of the Davie homeowners, call us at 954-242-8030 or send an email. As Davie, Florida real estate experts, we’ll help you find just the right home in this wonderful Florida community.
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