{"id":69,"date":"2009-06-23T13:34:35","date_gmt":"2009-06-23T18:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/?p=69"},"modified":"2015-07-22T19:50:04","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T00:50:04","slug":"5-secrets-absolutely-buy-home-todays-st-paul-real-estate-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/69\/5-secrets-absolutely-buy-home-todays-st-paul-real-estate-market\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Secrets You Must Absolutely Know Before You Buy A Home in Today\u2019s St Paul Real Estate Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 Secrets I with I knew before I “bought” my first house<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether you’re a first-time home buyer or a veteran, buying a home is a difficult process. This report will help you make the best decisions when buying a home in today\u2019s market. We\u2019re going to share with you some tips that have been extremely helpful when purchasing a home. For most people, buying a new home is the largest financial investment in their lifetime. So, it only makes sense to arm yourself with all the knowledge you can before jumping into the process.<\/p>\n

Secret #1 – Sell First, Buy Second
\n<\/strong>Do you want to get your dream home for the least amount of money? Then you must be in the strongest negotiating position possible. To reach this position, if you have a house to sell, sell it first BEFORE choosing the house to buy.<\/p>\n

The \u201cHubbard Clause\u201d contingency does protect you as the buyer if you are unable to sell your home, however you stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars! Here\u2019s how \u2013 you looking for a new home, and you find the perfect one that you love! Now you\u2019re getting your offer prepared, you want the seller to negotiate the price down and wait until you sell your house to make the agreement \u201cbinding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look at it from the sellers\u2019 standpoint \u2013 that is a risky deal which gives him much less security about the likelihood of the sale. The seller runs to risk of passing up a buyer who doesn\u2019t need to sell his house. So to compensate him for taking on this additional risk, he insists the offer must be full price. You have not only paid more for you dream house, but you have to sell your existing house in a hurry! Where the pressure of selling becomes time sensitive you might take an offer that\u2019s lower than if you had additional time to wait. So the bottom line is when buying first you lose your negotiation power which could correlate to thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

When selling first, buying second, as the seller you can optimize another option and make the sale \u201csubject to seller finding suitable housing\u201d. This means that once you have found a buyer, you will have some time to find the new place. If you aren\u2019t able to find a new home to your liking, you don\u2019t have to sell your present home.
\n
\nSecret #2 – Don\u2019t Get \u201cPre-Qualified\u201d! Get \u201cPre-Approved\u201d!<\/strong>
\nYour finance strength as a buyer and the length of escrow, are critical elements to a seller. Therefore knowing how boost this strength is another bargaining tool.<\/p>\n

The norm in the recent past has been for a buyer to get \u201cpre-qualified.\u201d You\u2019d spend a few minutes on the phone with a lender who asks you a few questions. Based on the answers, the lender pronounces you \u201cpre-qualified\u201d and issues documentation that you can show to a seller. Sellers are aware that such certificates are WORTHLESS! Why? Because none of the information has been verified! Therefore a seller can make a pretty safe better that unknown problems surface while the buyer is getting financed!<\/p>\n

To optimize your bargaining tool, make a strong offer by getting \u201cpre-approved\u201d. This happens AFTER all information has been checked and verified. You are actually APPROVED for the loan and the only loose end is the appraisal on the property. This process takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few days depending on your situation. The effort it will take you as a buyer puts an immense amount of power on your side when you are submitting an offer for you dream home.<\/p>\n

Secret #3 – Keep Score! <\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s right; you are involved in a competition! You are the one and only judge comparing dozens of homes to choose which one you will make an offer on. So, create your scorecard! You must have a rating system to avoid confusion and keep things in perspective when you\u2019re previewing many homes. Make a list of the Top Tens Things you want in the new place, and make a list of five things you don\u2019t want. A home possessing your wants gets points; a home possessing your dis-likes does not.<\/p>\n

Before house hunting, make a list of nine things you want in the new place. Then make a list of the nine things you don\u2019t want. Keep in mind the difference between structural and cosmetic. Structural things, such as location, view, size of lot, floor plan of the home, quality of street, school districts. Cosmetics are easily changeable like carpet, wallpaper, paint colors, and window treatments. Buy a home with good BONES, because the cosmetics can always be changed to match your tastes.<\/p>\n

Secret #4 \u2013 Keep your eye on the Prize!<\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t be pushed into just any house. Today\u2019s buyer\u2019s market means more opportunities for you! Your agent should show you every property on the market that meets your requirements. Don\u2019t make a decision on a house until you feel that you\u2019ve seen enough homes to make an educated decision. Ask your agent to go through the Multiple Listings on the computer with you, so you know you\u2019re getting a COMPLETE list of homes for sale and not just the home that the agent “wants” to show you.<\/p>\n

With current market trends houses are sitting on the market longer, so chances are you don\u2019t need to make an offer on the spot unless the home is significantly under priced. However, you must keep in mind, if you wait too long there is always a chance of the house selling before you have made your offer. If you really like the house, get an offer written and make sure your agent informs the listing agent to be expecting an offer from you. Often the listing agent will inform your agent if there are other offers on the table.<\/p>\n

Secret #5 – Stop calling on newspaper ads!<\/strong>
\nHere\u2019s a secret, real estate agents create ads for one purpose – to make the phone ring! Advertising their listed properties is a great way for an agent to generate leads \u2013 buyers and potential sellers. You can\u2019t rely on an ad to get an accurate overview of the property. The remarks don\u2019t mention the drawback, and what\u2019s not mentioned in the ad is usually more important than what is.<\/p>\n

The lesson is to be very careful when reading an ad. Remember that the person writing the ad is representing the seller and not you! The most important thing you can do is have someone on your side looking out for your best interests. Working with a buyer\u2019s agent on your side provides a wealth of knowledge and experience. Your agent will not only guide you through the home buying process, they are also extremely valuable when critiquing the property and evaluating how well it meets your needs. A good agent and will point out any drawbacks you should know about.<\/p>\n

As in every profession — not every real estate agent is equal. Some have different niches that they specialize in, such as shoreline property, investment property, or first time home buyers. You want an agent that can help you find the best property for you. Be aware of the benefits and rights created by this agency relationship. When an agent gets word of a \u201cgreat deal\u201d who do you think he\u2019s going to call? His client, who he has a legal obligation to work hard for you, or someone who just called on the phone and said \u201cLet me know if you see anything?\u201d So, to get the best buy on a property, hire your own agent and stick with him or her.<\/p>\n

If you would like more details on the contents of this report, don\u2019t hesitate to contact me at (651-343-9940), I am here for all of your real estate needs. I\u2019d be happy to set up a FREE consultation with you to help you achieve the dream of home ownership.<\/p>\n

Robert Zuniga<\/p>\n

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5 Secrets I with I knew before I “bought” my first house Whether you’re a first-time home buyer or a veteran, buying a home is a difficult process. This report will help you make the best decisions when buying a home in today\u2019s market. We\u2019re going to share with you some tips that have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11,14],"tags":[12,13],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-help","category-reports","category-st-paul","tag-retail-buyer","tag-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278,"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stpaulinvestmentdeals.com\/investordeals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}