The Do’s and Don’ts for Homebuyers

Julie D. Martin

Real Estate Broker

Nobody likes to be told what to do (and what not to do). Well, at least I know that I don’t. In fact, the more someone orders me around, the less likely I am to listen to them. I’m sure I probably got myself into some trouble over the years for having such an independent spirit, but it has also served me well in other areas of life. I’ll let you in on another one of my personality traits. As much as I don’t like to be submissive, I probably hate losing even more. I’ve learned that if I want to win in life, it doesn’t just take hard work and grit. It also takes listening to the right people, people who have wisdom and a history of making good decisions. So, if you are a Buyer and you want to win, follow some good advice. Here is some of the best advice I can give you to help you to win in this market.

DO DO

Hire the Right Agent DO

I once had someone who told one of my buyer clients “your agent wasn’t very nice to me”. It was regarding a situation where the seller had left a garage full of their junk right before closing day, and I had to get a little pushy to ensure my client wasn’t left with a headache to deal with. My client later told me that he told this person that he didn’t hire me because I was nice; he hired me because I was smart. We got a good chuckle out of it, and it became a funny story to tell. But, seriously, there is a lot of truth in this. If you want to have someone help you in a tough market, you need to hire someone who is tough. There’s no reason to be rude just to be rude or to assert power, but you must ensure you’re working with someone who is strategic and not afraid to assert themselves on your behalf.

Get an Accurate Pre-approval You can’t go shopping without knowing what your budget is. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and will prove to be a very frustrating experience, so this is the frst thing you should do before you even start the process of viewing homes.

Be Realistic About Property Values

If I could put my fnger on the most frustrating part about this current market (and I mean frustrating for buyers and buyer’s agents alike), it’s that there’s no rhyme or reason with pricing. There could be 10 very similar listings pop up on the same day and the list prices can vary by more than $200,000 or more. So that you don’t get your hopes up, allow your agent to inform you prior to booking showings approximately what they think the property will sell for based on recent sales data in that neighbourhood. If you have a budget of $650,000, don’t look at homes that are likely to sell for over $700,000. The longer you view homes that are out of your reach, the more you will end up spending in the long run because lost time allows the market to increase in value which results in you either spending more for the type of home you want or getting less of a home than you wanted in order to ft your budget.

DO DO

Give it Your Best

Gone are the days of bargaining. If you are buying in this current market, you need to realize that you are likely only going to get one shot at the property you’re offering on. There may be 10 or 15 other offers you’re competing with. The seller and listing agent will likely not be calling everyone who submitted an offer. They will likely set aside several offers they received and only focus on the best ones, which may only be 1, 2 or maybe 3 offers. Sellers usually eliminate offers from their consideration for the following reasons: • Offers under a certain purchase price • Offers with a closing date that doesn’t work for them • Offers with conditions – in this market, most listings sell FIRM on offer night • Offers that for whatever reason seem shaky – either the deposit is too low, or the buyer didn’t actually view the property in person prior to offering, or something else that leads the seller to believe that the buyer is not really serious

DON'T DON'T

Get Turned Off by Silly Things

Sometimes homes aren’t clean, they aren’t staged, they aren’t marketed well and don’t look pretty in the pictures, or they stink or they have a hideous wall colour. All of these things are surface issues. Okay, maybe the funky smell goes a little deeper, but even odours can usually be addressed. Don’t let minor things keep you from offering on an otherwise great home. If it’s in the neighbourhood you want, and if it’s the right size and layout, and it’s something you can afford, you can always clean it up to your standard and paint it prior to moving in. You’ve likely heard the saying “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”. Well, that’s good advice when you’re shopping for a home in this market.

Pivot Quickly

Naturally, everyone wants to be able to get the best that they can with their money. But, if you keep offering on homes and are missing out by a lot (more than just a few thousand dollars), you need to kick it up a notch on the next offer. If the homes you are viewing are selling for above your pre-approval range, you need to adjust your search criteria and adjust it quickly because the market is increasing quickly. For example, let’s say you are trying over and over again for a detached home and you keep missing out. Maybe you need to stop looking at detached homes and start looking at semi-detached or townhouse. And you may need to adjust your search criteria again more than once during your house search. This is not uncommon. It is taking some buyers several months to land a purchase in this market. Those who are stuck on getting a certain type of home and aren’t willing to make adjustments in the type of home they want to purchase may need reconsider their location or neighbourhood. With so many people working from home, you can get a much better deal if you’re willing to purchase 30 or 45 minutes further out from the city.

Try to Keep Up with the Joneses

This advice is mostly to the frst time buyers just starting out. For your own good, please don’t compare yourself with your friends, family and co-workers. If you do, you are going to be very disappointed in this market. Even if you have a friend who purchased a property 3 months ago, they could have purchased that property for $100,000 less than what they would have to spend for the same house in our current market. Life, in general, is much happier when you nix the expectations. Look at your situation and come to grips with the fact that you may not be able to get the type of home you had initially pictured yourself buying, and then move forward with a positive and realistic attitude.

In closing, my intention isn’t to scare people off from buying, but to educate them and help set them up for success. I hope you fnd my suggestions helpful. Have any other real estate related subjects you’d like me to cover? Let the Editor know and I’ll try to include it in an upcoming issue.

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