MR. AND MRS. BUYER. WHAT IS YOUR GOAL? TO GET A GOOD HOME AT A GOOD PRICE? OR ARE YOU TRYING TO PLAY INVESTOR? Buying real estate is not a board game.
- FACT: BANKS DON'T KNOW HOW TO SELL REAL ESTATE.
- FACT: CONSUMERS DON'T KNOW HOW TO BUY REAL ESTATE.
When it comes to short sales, some things have to be understood from the outset. For one, banks are not perfect in their analysis of various buyer offers. However, neither are buyers when designing their offers.
WHO HAS THE EXPERIENCE TO PRICE SHORT SALES? Banks have access to pricing experts.
- the listing agent's pricing advice
- more than one price opinion from objective brokers
- appraisals.
SHORT SALES ARE USUALLY PRICED BELOW MARKET. Sure, banks often consider what they have in the property and the amount of their loss, etc. However, in the end, the prices for short sales are generally quite advantageous for home buyers when compared with home owner listings and even bank owned properties for sale. Buyer's agents can usually provide the buyers with solid pricing examples that support a short sale listing.
HOW SERIOUS IS THE BUYER? When weighing the pricing information, location, house design and condition and all of the evidence shows that the house is priced fairly, if the prospective buyer then makes an offer that is unrealistically low and stubbornly sticks to their original offer and refuses to negotiate price or terms, etc., then it must be accepted that individual making the offer is NOT A SERIOUS HOME BUYER!
THE BIGGEST CLUE THAT A CONSUMER IS NOT A SERIOUS HOME BUYER??
When the prospective home buyer says:
- "We don't have to buy now"
- "The bank has to come down to my price"
- "The bank needs to sell more than I need to buy"
- "It's a buyer's market"
- "I'm looking for a real deal"
BUYING REAL ESTATE IS NOT A BOARD GAME!
When a prospective home buyer makes unrealististically low offers, they have simply made sure that they will NOT HAVE TO BUY THAT HOUSE. When the consumer ignores pricing documentation and logic and insists that everyone involved reward them for their superior real estate buying skills, they simply are giving themselves a guarantee that they will NOT have to buy a house.
THEY WERE NOT SERIOUS HOME BUYERS. In 2009, I dropped two prospective home buyers. Both were in the market for new construction. One made an offer of $300,000 on a $400,000 home. I knew that the builder had closed that model for no less than a net of $390,000. The other prospective buyer made an offer of $790,000 on new construction that priced out with their upgrades and options at $1,190,000. the builder countered to $900,000. BOTH BUYERS WERE PLAYING CHICKEN WITH THE BUILDERS. BOTH OFFERS WERE RIDICULOUS and, IMO, designed to fail!
FACT: As of today, neither of those buyers have purchased a property. They were never serious home buyers.
FACT: Once a buyer makes a low offer and receives a reasonable and workable counter-offer and does not proceed to buy the house, they were probably NOT SERIOUS HOME BUYERS.
REAL ESTATE AGENTS make a significant investment of their resources when they accept a buyer-client. We use our skills and experience for:
- financial analysis
- property research
- previewing
- showings
- preparing offers
Working with buyers requires a huge investment of time and gasoline.
FACT: Agents can lose a lot of valuable time by not know the maximum qualified price range for a prospective buyer. If the buyer is making low offers, perhaps that's all they're qualified to buy. I have spoken with buyers who were qualified for a certain amount but insisted on looking at properties that were 25% or more in price. If you get a buyer who wants to look way over their qualified range. . . . . . . be careful. Save your time.
WHEN WE SPEND TIME WITH CONSUMERS WHO ARE NOT SERIOUS HOME BUYERS, we may be missing the opportunity to work with serious home buyers. It's your business, invest your time wisely and learn to identify consumers who are merely playing a REAL ESTATE BOARD GAME.
Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.
Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.
For a tour of homes in Vienna, VA, contact Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988. Experienced REALTORS helping home buyers in the wonderful planned community of Reston, Virginia real estate.
To search homes for sale in Vienna on the full database of ACTIVE homes listed for sale in Fairfax County, use our convenient Home Search in Fairfax County web site.
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