Help
Your Realtor®
Realtors®
across the country say the most important thing you can do is be honest about
what you really want in a home and what you actually need.
Most buyers think they’re being honest, but they may not turn that into usable
information for the broker. You can say you need a four-bedroom house, but if
you don’t tell the broker that you need that fourth bedroom for an office,
you’re not being has helpful as you could. Why? There may be spaces in a house
for an office – such as third-floor attic – that offer privacy, but don’t
necessarily meet the official definition of “bedroom,” being enclosed and
with a closet.
Be
Flexible
After
honesty, Realtors® ask that buyers be flexible with their time and responsive
to their calls. If a Realtor® agrees to spend an entire Saturday with you, and
sets up a day of showings, it’s extremely frustrating if you decide to cancel
Friday night or even Saturday morning.
(Of course, it’s perfectly acceptable to cancel if there is a true emergency.
And if that’s the case, communicate that to the Realtor® and reschedule. But
remember, weekends are prime time for real estate agents and if they set aside
the time for you and you cancel, it’s lost time to them – it would be hard
for them to reschedule new showings for different buyers on that short of
notice.)
Here’s
A List Of Tips On Home Buyer Etiquette:
1.
Honesty is the best policy.
Whether it’s telling the Realtor® what you really want or need in a home or
telling the Realtor® specifically why you did or did not like a particular
home, if you’re not honest and open with the Realtor®, you make the job
tougher than it has to be.
2. Be available.
If you’re going to be out of town on business, or tied up in meetings, let the
Realtor® know you’re not going to be available to look at property or talk
about prospective homes. On the other hand, you should return your agent’s
calls promptly, and have a back-up number in case the agent calls with an urgent
message about a property. You might have either received an answer to your
offer, or a new, hot property has come on the market in the neighborhood you
want.
3. Loyalty.
Realtors® like loyal buyers. Don’t work with two agents at the same time. The
real estate community is small and word gets around fast. Also, if you’ve
taken up six months of an agent’s time, and things are going well, it’s not
nice to suddenly switch to your relative or to a discount broker to close the
sale. Legally, of course, you may have the right to switch at any time (barring
an exclusivity agreement). But that doesn’t make it right. If you want to use
Aunt Edna because she’ll give you a portion of her commission back, use her
for the entire process. Don’t waste another agent’s valuable time.
Helping
Out
As
we discussed earlier, if you’re like every other first-time buyer, the moment
you decide to seriously look for a home, you’ll be energized – if not
consumed – by the process. You’ll want to do everything in your power to
find the right home fast!
You can help your Realtor® by looking through the Internet at properties that
might be for sale, and scouring the real estate “for sale” ads in the local
paper. If your Realtor® has a good handle on the local market, he or she has
probably seen most of the properties for sale. But if you see something
interesting in the paper, ask about it.
Learn
Everything You Can
Finally,
you can help your Realtor® by trying to learn everything you can about the
neighborhoods you’ve chosen. Walk around and try them on for size. Visit the
local grocery store, dry cleaners, schools, and parks. Drive around at various
times of the day so you can experience “rush hour” traffic. Get a feel for
the people who live and work there. Educate yourself rather than relying on your
broker for lessons.
First-Time Buyer Tip: You’ll probably be tempted to go visit some open
houses as you walk around the neighborhood. That’s fine, but be sure to sign
in as represented by your agent. That’s called “protecting the broker.” By
signing in as someone’s client, you’re putting the seller and seller’s
agent on notice that you are represented. If you don’t sign in your broker at
an open house, and you later try to go back with your agent and make an offer,
the selling broker might put up a fight and say that you were his or her client
for that particular house – making the listing broker a dual agent – and
entitled to the entire commission. So make sure you sign in your Realtor® at
each and every open house.
How
To Interpret Home Descriptions
The
key to understanding real estate ads is to assume that the broker is putting the
best face on a bad situation.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some fabulous homes out there. There
are, and they may be worth every penny of their list price. That’s also not to
say that brokers are being dishonest. Most of them aren’t.
How
To Distinguish
So
in reading an advertisement, how do you distinguish between a home that really
has a great view from one that has a six-inch-wide strip of blue? How can you
tell a home that’s really in move-in condition from one that needs to be
completely redecorated?
That’s the tough part. But remember: the Realtor® will usually be very
specific about a true feature. If the kitchen is new with top appliances, the ad
may say, “gourmet kitchen with top appliances.” If the view really does
include Chickamauga Lake (or
downtown, or the river, or the mountains, or whatever) it will say so.
But
Be Sure To Read Between The Lines
If
you don’t know well a specific area or neighborhood, you might want to try and
read between the lines of an advertisement. Here’s a list of key phrases to
watch out for and what they may mean (in a tough, cynical world):
|
Phrase
|
What
It might Mean
|
|
|
|
|
Fantastic
View
|
Could
be the best view of your life; or there
might be little, if any, view, and you might
have to crane your neck out the window to
see it.
|
|
Treetop
View
|
The
house is on a hill.
During the summer, your view may be
blocked by leaves.
|
|
Just
Renovated
|
Probably
needs a minimal amount of
redecorating – unless the seller’s red walls
and chintz everywhere don’t agree with your
ideas about good taste.
|
|
Move-In
condition
|
May
be in pristine condition, or you may just
need to paint.
|
|
Needs
Work
|
Could
mean anything from a home that needs
new paint and carpet to major structural
renovation.
|
|
Handyman’s
Special
|
Probably
a gut job; it’s likely the home needs
serious renovations and may even be
unlivable.
|
|
“As
Is” Condition
|
The
home may have some serious problems
that will emerge with a home inspection
report; the house may be filthy, and the seller
doesn’t want to clean it up; or, the seller
simply wants to be done with the deal,
without having a prospective buyer try to
negotiate the price down because of the
condition. Or, a combination of all three.
|
|
Bright
and Sunny
|
Maybe
the home has a southern exposure, or
maybe every room is painted bright yellow,
or maybe there is 10,000 watts’ worth of
light bulbs, all of which will be turned on
during your showing.
|
|
Dollhouse
|
A
word brokers often use to describe a home
that is too small to accommodate a growing
family; it may also be too small to
accommodate a regularly sized individual.
|
|
Oversized
Rooms
|
Don’t
expect Queen Elizabeth’s great hall;
could mean truly large rooms or anything
over nine by nine feet.
|
|
Street
Parking
|
The
broker is telling you the home doesn’t
come with a parking space and that you can
park easily on the street. However, if the home is located in a congested
metro neighborhood, or an area that doesn’t permit street parking from
2am to 6am, don’t believe
it unless you see for yourself. It isn’t always easy or desirable to
park on the street.
|
|
Deeded
Parking Space
|
You
get a parking space. It could be indoors,
outdoor but covered, or simply outdoor, but
it’s yours – even if it is too small for your Chevy Suburban.
|
|
Newer
Mechanicals
|
Might’ve
been replaced last year or five
years ago. You may have to replace
expensive mechanical systems within five
years.
|
|
Newer
Roof
|
You
may have to replace the roof within five
years, or it may be just fine.
|
|
Needs
New Roof
|
Don’t
be surprised to find signs of water
damage from recent roof leaks. Check for
brown watermarks on the ceiling and buckling hardwood floors during your
showing. Next question: Does the roof need a “tear-off,” where several
layers of old roofing must be pried off and replaced? Or, could you, for a
lot less money, add another layer of asphalt shingles?
|
|
Oversized
Lot
|
In
Chicago, which has one of the smallest
“regular” lot sizes in the country, an
oversized lot could mean something as small
as 30 by 125 feet. (A standard lot in Chicago
is 25 by 125 feet, so you’d be getting a few
extra blades of grass.)
|
