Monthly Archives: February 2018
6 Tips for Searching for Cheap Properties
A house is always a good investment. You might want to make it your own or create a rental. Maybe you just want to diversify your assets. Whatever reason you have for purchasing property, you’re probably wondering how to get the best deals and spot red flags. Here are six quick tips for looking at properties with a sharp eye.
- Compare prices
Real estate greatly varies in price for so many reasons. A listing that seems cheaper than it should be could be concealing some hidden defect or it might just be that the owner wants to sell fast. Location and neighborhood quality can also drastically influence home prices. The best way to get a clearer picture of the pricing arena is by comparing a lot of listings. If you are in the market for a particular style or area (a.k.a. luxury home or rural vs. downtown) find a few listings that are reasonably similar to determine a relative average price.
- Know the value of the area
There’s a lot more to knowing an area than just price comparison of homes. Hook up with your trusted real estate agent and see what they can dig up for you in your preferred location.
- Early or late
When searching for cheaper house prices, it’s good to not be in a hurry. As a rule, either side of a house sale is a good place to put your bid in. Basically, first offers are widely accepted simply because they are the first. It might sound odd, but when someone wants to sell, they may be too eager to wait for more offers. So if you can, get your bid in right away. On the flip side of this concept is putting an offer in for a property that has been on the market for quite some time. This is the most likely scenario for your low bid to be accepted.
- Watch for and grab opportunity
When you’re in the market for a house, pay attention to your network. Listen to what friends, relatives, and people you work with are saying about properties. If you know someone who knows someone that is thinking about selling, look into it right away because if the property is to your liking you may be able to put in an offer before the house even gets listed. This could give you a considerable advantage with the price.
- Resist buying impulsively
Just because a house boasts a “price reduced” sign don’t assume it’s a good deal. It isn’t uncommon for an owner to start a listing higher than necessary so they can deliberately bring it down to the price they want to get for it, all under the guise of a reduced price. If you’re uncertain about the legitimacy of a price drop, consult your real estate agent for what a fair reduced price should be.
- Short sales
In short (pun intended), a short sale is when someone is behind on payments for a house and the lien holder agrees to sell the property for less than the amount owed on it. These opportunities will likely offer you the best chance to get the cheapest price. The issue here would be having little time to think about the purchase.
7 Misconceptions About Real Estate Agents
No matter what business you look at there are the good, the bad, and the somewhere-in-between. For some reason, realty often gets an unfair assessment born from the “bad” category, creating a grim bias toward the profession. The truth is a lot prettier. Let’s bust 7 misconceptions in the real estate industry.
- Real estate agents try to land a high bid to earn a higher commission
Obviously, the point of any career is to make a living. However, real estate agents aren’t out to squeeze every extra dollar from you that they can. They are truly more interested in successful buying and selling experiences.
Even $10,000 more on the selling price of a house marginally increases your real estate agent’s earnings. Even strictly from a profit standpoint, it’s far more efficacious for agents to cultivate lasting relationships and satisfied clients.
- Real estate agents get kickbacks by inspectors
This is a funny one because there is another word for kickback… it’s called a bribe! No good real estate agent would even consider this. Even if we take the ethical concern out of accepting kickbacks, the potential career self-destruction that would result is not worth a few extra dollars to a dedicated agent.
- All real estate agents make big bucks
Because of the typical, luxurious image most real estate agents have, people often assume they must be raking it in. The market can be very lucrative, but is not a get-rich-quick arena. It involves long hours and a lot of hard work and research. Not to mention, real estate agents often make themselves available most of the time to best serve their clients. If they earned an hourly wage, it would not be the obscene numbers detractors claim they earn.
- Real estate agents are only in it for the money
Being a real estate agent is exhausting. They have a lot of responsibility. How do you think real estate agents keep up those smiles? They love their job! Like anyone, they will have their rough days but all in all the majority of real estate agents are in the business because they enjoy it.
- It’s the real estate agent’s job to give you statistics
A real estate agent will do everything they can to help you find a house, but are not responsible for supplying statistics of a neighborhood. Most agents are happy to point you in the right direction to discover this information. There is just so much to know about any area that it’s impossible to maintain all that data all the time. The best thing to do when in doubt is simply ask your broker if they either know the information you are wondering about or if they can direct you to the appropriate resource.
- A real estate agent’s expenses are covered by someone else
Despite the look that real estate agents are given some kind of lavish expense account to afford fancy clothes and cars, they pay for everything themselves. From hosting events to open houses and other activities, the real estate agent is footing the bill. On top of these expenses, the real estate agent is putting out their time to host these events without any misconceived high salary floating around somewhere in the background.
- All real estate agents are basically the same
Real estate agents are just people. They are individuals and the best way to learn about them is to meet them. You can’t judge an entire industry of people by a couple bad apples. Some real estate agents become friends for life to their clients!