I have a Twitter friend who has been house shopping (I’m not her Realtor. It’s not weird. People can have other Realtors and be my friend. Stop trying to make it weird; it’s not. You’re making me feel awkward.).
Last week she sent a tweet about how they made an offer:
Homeowners: what did you do to occupy yourself while waiting to hear if your offer was approved? #goinginsane
I think this is an excellent question and I have lots of thoughts. But first let’s talk about what NOT to do.
Things NOT to Do:
1. Figure out how to configure your furniture in the house.
2. Pick out paint colors.
3. Decide if you can’t have THIS VERY HOUSE you want no house at all. You’d rather live on the streets and die of exposure than live anywhere but this house.
4. Order a moving truck.
5. Dream about how you will raise the children you have yet to procreate, in this house. Imagine how you’ll bring them home from the hospital, send them off to the first day of kindergarten and take pictures of them at prom in this house.
6. Lament your offer and wish you could have gone in higher because it would have been worth it if you get it.
7. Find other houses on the internet and decide there’s probably a more perfect one out there and you don’t even want this one any more.
Things TO Do:
1. Continue looking at other houses as they come on the market. Just because you’ve gone on a date with one house and you’re considering a commitment, it doesn’t mean you can’t still oogle other inventory. You’re not married yet.
2. Invest in boxed wine. It will become your friend.
3. Know that you made the strongest offer you were comfortable with, so if it goes to someone else, it’s OK because you couldn’t have afforded it anyway.
4. Realize new houses come on the market every day and that builders build the same floorplan 87 billion times, so if you found one that’s ”˜perfect’ it’s likely you’ll find another that’s similar eventually.
5. Know that every house has its faults. So if you don’t get the one with the built-in margarita table in the pool, you’ll probably get one with eight custom shoe racks in the master closet that will perfectly hold your extensive brightly colored athletic shoe collection.
6. Tell yourself “If it was meant to be, it will be.” (I usually hate this one because sometimes people use it as an excuse to make a futile or sub-par offer, but at some point in the process you have to know it’s no longer within your control and be at peace with that.)
7. Have another glass of wine.
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
Elizabeth – This is great advice. Yes, it seems that many start to drive themselves crazy during the process. You’re right, don’t count you chickens before their hatched and try to remain objective. If this one doesn’t work out, another will.
Lack of transportation infrastructure, massive immigration, and a lack of quality housing stock and neighbourhoods have created a feeding frenzy among buyers here in Toronto. Thanks for your article recommending steps toward maintaining sanity.
Things TO Do:
8. Realize that you don’t know if the seller is a crazy person or not. Some people would be insulted by an over-priced offer.
9. You may not know if the seller is rational or not… yet, but at least you can feel calm because you know that Elizabeth is working hard for you and she is very much looking out for your best intests.
It’s usually not over ’til it’s over, right? Getting overly-invested in any house – particularly before you’ve bought it – is a bad idea. Make the offer, buy the wine, and be patient.
I enjoyed the Do’s and Do Not’s. Very insightful with a little bit of humor! great post!
I think the trick here is to feel comfortable with your offer. If you feel the price on your contract is correct and you have a value in mind which you will pay and a value you won’t pay , then I advise my buyers to keep looking and feel confident in their offer. Sometimes bidding wars you loose, come back later after they fall apart.
Gerriwithremax
FindNJHouse.com
I love this list! lol.. I have been guilty of a few of the not to do’s. It’s hard to keep searching when you think you found the perfect home.
I agree, if a buyer gets to personal about the home ie picking out furniture, picking colors, ect. they already see themselves living there and have made it their own which at least in my opinion clouds their better judgement. It simply make it difficult to walk away from the home. Also I feel that it is also unwise to let your children become to attached to a particular home as for many saying no to your kids is one of the most difficult things to do.