I touched a little on the process I go through on shopping for a home and I thought I would take a moment to expand on my boring ass theories on home buying.
Currently I have begun the process of finding a home in MS. The first part if online searches to get an idea of what is available and how the market is moving. there are about five areas I have focused in on and the homes are all fairly similar. From my research I have found that MS is a bit of a depressed market (putting it mildly) and homes are sitting on the market for a while. This gives the buyer a little leverage but is a concern in a few years when I go to sell.
Once I am a little better aquainted with the area and what the inventory is like I will research tax rates, insurance rates, crime, schools and public transportation access. The bummer with MS is the insurance rates are astronomical the closer to the ocean you purchase - this has to be considered when finding the correct home.
I start to make a list of possible homes located in my target area and chare my list with someone who has an opinion I value. I listen to the feedback and eliminate some homes from the list. In the final review of my list I want to know what I would change to increase the value of the home. This time around I really want to gut a kitchen so I want a galley style kitchen because I believe this will make the process easier and less expensive. I have never done a kitchen top to bottom and it is very high on my list. I want to stay away from bathroom remodles unless it is minor. When I say minor I mean I can switch out a vanity-counter and sing but I do not want to re-tile anything.
I am also looking to maybe re-floor a whole home. Ripping up carpet and placing wood floors down. Many of the homes I have been looking at have tile throughout the home and this is so not my style and I fear it would be way too expensive to replace - so most of those homes do not make my list. I just think that tile throughout the home is so limiting and hurts the re-sale. Wood floors are most desired by buyers and it is worth the investment.
Lot wise I want to keep it small and tight. I feel I can landscape a small yard much easier than a huge yard and I do not want to spend all my weekends mowing and doing yardwork.
So I have a list, know what improvements I want to do, find an ideal location, managable yard and I need to examing the home layout to help weed down the list even more. The ideal home layout is a split floor plan. The bedrooms are on opposite ends of the home. This appeals to me as I will make one of the bedrooms a little lounge for television and the other end will be my sleep chamber!! Believe it or not this is a big consideration when you have guests or you live with someone who stays up late watching television and you are a light sleeper. I know people out there claim to want open floorplans, but I think is everything else is in line they will forget about the whole open floorplan thing.
Now my list has maybe 5 to 10 homes and now I can tour the homes and examine the neghborhoods. This is a huge step!! This is when I get the whole vibe of the area which for me is the most important step! If the area does not feel livable and I cannot see myself there the home gets cut! The will eliminate half of my homes remaining on my list. I then rank the remaining homes 1 to whatever is left and the offer process begins. I will fill out offers for house number one, but my realtor will understand I most likely will make an offer on more than one home to get the price I want and I want the seller to understand I will be making a quick decision and I have multiple homes to consider.
This is the most fun part as a buyer. I see the seller squirming in my mind and this brings a huge smile to my face and I love it when they counter with a ridiculous counter. Say the home is listed for $350 and my research tells me $310 is more reasonable and the home has been on the market for 6 months with several price drops - this is like candy! I go in with an offer of $280, the seller comes back with $348 - I always love those offers. This is when I like the realtor to tighten the screws a bit. So I come back at $290 and spill the beans that another home nearby also catches my eye - they also let the buyer know I expect to close quickly and I am a serious buyer. The offer comes back and is usually headed in the right direction. The seller is over the initial insult and has maybe had some time to understand it may be another six months for another serious offer. If all goes well I get a price I was actually aiming for and it helps to walk away for a day or two to make the seller believe he has lost the buyer - it helps to sweeten the process.
I have actually walked away from the negotiation process to have my realtor contact me days later to inform be the seller had a change of heart. They realise that a solid offer may be few and far between in this economy and sometimes you have to take what is on the table - I LOVE IT!! That is the best part about this horrible economy! If I had more money I would be out there buying as many homes as possible, because eventually the market will stabilize and things will get much better. Not that we will live long enough to see the kind of market that got us into this trouble but it move again at a better pace with far fewer foreclosures.
No comments:
Post a Comment