How to Save 25k+ When Purchasing a Home
Looking to purchase a home, but worried about overpaying in this expensive market? We understand that in 2019 most people overpay for their home and that’s why we put this guide together to help you avoid making these costly mistakes. Detailed below are some of the most costly mistakes we see in 2019 and the tips and tricks on how to avoid them.
Determining the Homes Actual Value
The Problem: Determining the Home’s True Value
One of the most common problems we see with home buyers in 2019 is they see the price of a home on sites such as Trulia and Zillow and think that these are the exact prices of these homes. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Contrary to what most people think, most of the time these websites are only 80-90% accurate. To combat these issues we’ve listed some solutions and recommendations below to make sure you don’t fall into the pitfall of inaccurate home values.
The Solution: Using Multiple Tools
To combat the issue of inaccurate home evaluations you need to use a multitude of tools to determine a homes true value. These include using online evaluation tools like the FHFA house price index, receiving a competitive analysis from the team and I, looking at sites for comparable home sales, and hiring an appraiser.
Recommendations
To make sure that you get the most accurate valuation possible we highly recommend looking at a couple of home value estimators online, hiring an appraiser to determine the correct value of a home, and receiving a free competitive market analysis from the team and I. By using and comparing the prices generated by all these tools, you will be able to find the true value of the home you love. If you’d like to receive a free competitive market analysis or get some recommendations on good home value estimators or appraisers, shoot us a message at [email protected] and we’d be happy to help.
Maintaining Control
The Problem: Letting Eagerness and Emotions Get the Best of You
Overpaying for a house is caused by way more than just the inability to determine the true value of a home. A problem that is commonly overlooked is one that isn’t created by facts or figures, but instead the eagerness and emotions of buying a home you love. It’s a tough problem to overcome, but luckily we have found a couple of tips and tricks on how to hold your emotions back, so you don’t overpay for your home. Detailed below are these tips along with some recommendations we have to make sure your emotions don’t get the best of you.
Solution #1: Striving for Objectivity
It’s commonly seen with home buyers that the excitement of owning a new home creates a set of blinders when they view the home. They end up looking at all of the positives, but ignore all the negative signs. To prevent this issue we recommend striving for objectivity by listing out all the pros and cons of each house you view. We know this is hard to do, but by paying attention to the drawbacks of a home, you may end up saving a lot of money or prevent yourself from buying a home that you’ll regret later down the road.
Solution #2: Be Willing to Walk Away
One of the best ways to stay in control of your emotions is by deciding that it’s okay to walk away. A lot of people end up overpaying for a home because they end up becoming emotionally attached to the home, and even though the house is overpriced, they aren’t willing to walk away. To combat this issue we recommend maintaining control by deciding right here, right now, that you will be willing to walk away if you can’t get a fair price.
Hire Someone with Your Best Interests in Mind
Problem: Working with the Listing Agent
A lot of buyers don’t hire an agent and believe that working with the listing agent will end up saving them a ton of money. Sadly we’ve seen a lot of people make this mistake and they end up getting burned. You see listing agents aren’t hired to represent your best interests, they are hired to represent the sellers best interest. This means that they aren’t trying to make sure you get a fair price for your dream home, but instead they are trying to make sure that their client gets the better end of the deal.
