Avoid These Mistakes When Negotiating A Home Purchase
Negotiation is one of the most crucial steps when buying a home. Remember you are not just negotiating the price of the property; you are also negotiating other things such as the closing costs, the repairs, and the contingencies, among other things. Use these tips to help you negotiate a fair deal:
Getting Emotional
Emotions, whether positive or negative, can negatively affect your home purchase negotiation. For example, once a home seller has realized that their property excites you, they may play hardball and refuse to budge on their asking price. At the same time, being disdainful towards the house may make the seller not want to be involved in any deal with you. Not only that but acting disinterested about the property may make the seller think that you aren't ready to buy, which means they won't take you seriously. The best thing to do is to approach the negotiations as a business issue and be professional about it.
Fear
The fear of losing out on your preferred property may make you overspend on a house. For example, if you have identified a good home, you may think that the best way to get it is not to bargain too hard or to accept all the seller's contingencies. In some cases, you may even be tempted to ignore the home inspection process – a grave mistake.
Blind Spots
When buying a home, your blinds spots are the things you cannot see because you are too focused on other things. For example, you may be too focused on the number of bedrooms to the point that you ignore the fact that one of the bedrooms is an illegal addition to the house. Another example is when you focus on minor or cosmetic issues, such as peeling paint and ignore the fact that the house is in an otherwise great shape.
Inadequate Research
They say knowledge is power, and they have never been so right when it comes to home purchase negotiations. You need to do your research well and understand different things such as:
- The prices of similar houses
- Why the seller is disposing of the property
- How long properties are taking in the market
- The condition of the property, among other things
Failing to do adequate research can make you miss out on great opportunities since you will lack the information to carry out the negotiations. For example, if you don't know that the seller is selling their home because the cost of living is rising in the area, you may play hardball and miss out on an opportunity to buy a property in a gentrifying area.
To learn more, contact a real estate agent near you.
