3 mistakes that 90% of Homebuyers do when looking for a home! By Utah Dave

Just received a new offer on a home from a seller I'm listing and what is usually the first thing the seller asks me?  If they buyer will  pay more money.  Well, you can always ask the buyer if he will pay more but what is even better is when the buyer shows you how interested he is in the property.  He doesn't need to tell us because he showed us!  There are 3 mistakes that almost all homebuyers do when looking for a home.  

The reason why homebuyers make these mistakes.

Homebuying in most circumstances is an emotional purchase.  Buying a home is emotional because that is where you will be raising your family and providing the lifestyle that you want to achieve.  Because its emotional, we tend to jump up and do things based on emotion instead of logic.  One thing that most buyers do is they start to talk about buying the house they are interested in to friends or whoever.  That talking leads to driving.  That driving leads to looking at the house as they drive by to show friends and family the home they are thinking about buying.  All of this is emotional...its exciting!  It feels good!  It does something inside of us. But what is it that we want to achieve when placing an offer?  We want to have the negotiating edge.  Okay, so if we are going to have the negotiating edge we are going to have to do something logical instead of emotional.  Here are the mistakes.

Mistake #1 - Driving by the home to take a look at it. (I mean, the second time, the third, the fourth, etc.)

Many homebuyers after looking at the home will be bored and go drive by it.  Whenever I am selling a home it is crazy how many times I will hear the seller say, "The buyers drove by our house twice today."  It never fails, everytime a buyer drives by a house for sale, the seller or someone else sees it and guess what happens? The price on that home just went up! Drive by it once before you go inside but don't drive by it again. 

Remedy:  After you have viewed the home in person focus your time on getting your loan done or something else.  Don't drive by the home, because that drive by is more expensive than a toll road in Florida, it just cost you probably $5,000 to $10,000.  Thats one expensive toll road.

Mistake #2 - I want to bring back my family or friends to see it before I put an offer on it.  Or I want to see it again.

I love it.  The whole family comes out to view the home now.  They all take a look at it and then they all leave smiling and giddy. What does the seller think?  Well if they put an offer on my home after the whole family saw it...they obviously love it.  I mean, they certainly aren't going to take their family around to a whole bunch of homes...only the homes that are the most important.  What's the cost of taking your family to view a home before you put an offer on a home? Ohh probably $5,000 to $15,000.

Remedy:  Put an offer on the property if you are interested. Only look at the home once! You have what is called a Due Diligence period.  During the due diligence period you can bring family, friends, inspectors and whoever through the property. Depending on how your contract is written you could have 2 weeks to back out if something about the property doesn't mesh right with your mother in law. ;)

Mistake #3 -  Talking to the sellers - Giving them information unintentionally!

Many times the sellers might be home when you look at a house.  When you go inside the house the seller might say, 'ohh sorry my house is such a mess.'  You immediately run to their rescue by saying, 'ohhh don't worry about it, this house shows so nice, its perfect, you should see the other homes we looked at.'   Another example would be when the seller says, "How long have you been looking?"  And you reply, "Ohhh we have been looking forever, can't find anything, its tough looking but your home shows great!"  You might think, I would never do something like this.  You probably wouldn't say it exactly as in these examples, but believe it or not, I haven't had a single buyer talk to a seller that didn't end up giving away information that they shouldn't have given.  When buyers talk to the seller, prices go up!  I have a case scenario where the buyer thought they would negotiate a better price and they ended up paying $5,000 more for the house than what I had negotiated.

 Remedy: Instead of talking to the sellers...just smile! And let your agent talk to them!

These are the 3 mistakes that almost 90% of homebuyers do naturally.  This really is half your battle in negotiating.  The sellers won't know if you are really interested or if you are just semi interested.  Keep your cards in your hand.  By following these guidelines the seller won't be able to peak and see what is in your hand.  Only you will know!

Utah Dave

David Robison, Broker, CRS, GRI, e-PRO
Robison & Company Real Estate
10380 S Redwood Rd South Jordan, Utah 84095