Very well written entry! THere are a ton of incentives out there for people to buy that have nothing to do with lowering the price of the property. Alot of peopl also add thier closing costs to their homeloan also, another big no no.

I think the simpler you keep the buying the better it is.

Rosemary, I'm glad you and your daughter are in California and me and my daughter are in Mississippi.:-)

Great blog and super tips. Sometimes first time home buyers do get caught up in the little incentives and details in negotiating, its our jobs as realtors to help them see past all that.

This is excellent buyers' advice. It's important to keep a cool head during negotiations.  

Great post, we need to make sure that we help our buyers weigh all of the options.   Interest rate buydowns or points are another way to save the buyer money.

Luke ~ Thank you.  I appreciate that tip.  I agree if the buyers keep this mindset on what they really want out of the deal -- it will help them keep cool.

Happy New Year.

Suzi ~ I hope that you and your daughter enjoy working together as much as me and mine do.  We both wish you and your daughter much success and pleasure this coming year.  I find it a blessing to have my daughter as my partner.

Heather ~ So true.  I'm spending this "slow" time in getting back to basics and trying to reach my buyers and sellers that read AR!

Rosario ~ I so appreciate you stopping by.  Thanks.  Buyers seem to forget what their bottomline is from time time during the process.  We agents have to keep them cool.

Jeff ~ Weigh out the options, do the math.... and thank you for your suggestion of buydown that 's a good one.

Tom ~ I am so glad I have a AR buddy like you!  Thank you for the kind words.  I am trying to reach as many buyers in my area and hopefully help others in other areas with some upfront knowledge of how to work a purchase to best of their advantage.  Getting back to basics.

Rosemary, I was kidding. My daughter is 14 and thinks real estate is boring. However, She tends to have drastic and extreme changes so she may end up being a partner in the grand scheme of things. If there were no age restrictions I would find a way to motivate her now. She is level headed, clear thinking, problem solving, intelligent (other than thinking real estate is boring:-) I hope you know I was kidding. Buyers over this way seem to do well naturally in asking for what they want.

Suzi ~ 14! Wow. OK if mine was 14 (again) I'd be asking for advice on how to deal with a teenager!!! Oh my gosh.... I do not want to go there again.  When my daughter was 14 I would never have dreamed that we'd be partners.  But time changes and it gets better. 

I didn't take your comment anyway except I thought you worked with your daughter... I'm slow! smile

Hint: If you let your daughter read some of our posts she will like it I am sure. Make her think its all fun and games.  She'll get hooked and want to learn more and more and then she'll be 18 and ready to go to the real estate world.  good luck and happy New Year.

I think it is important that we set realistic goals for buyers and let them know that a dent in the fence is not enough reason to lower the price by $10,000 (inside joke)! Great post, important for buyers to have a good understanding of what to ask for when making an offer.

D'Adrea ~ Yeah that joke is funny and it is weird what people look at as important.  It is difficult to educate some buyers on what is important to their deal... but all you do is keep trying to educate them.