I completely agree. There is never a need to pay full price. People need money, use that against them. I f they think you really dont care, that is a good way in controlling them. When people think you dont care, they try to make you care.
Yep, that's true. The moment you show any emotion, like if you love the house and you want to buy it, in that moment the possibilities you have for a discount vanish in the air. Poker face!
Paying attention to the market price should be advice for investors only. Homeowners should know what the market is doing, but it shouldn't be high on their priority list.
We went through hell and back buying our first home. I would never, ever buy a "For Sale By Owner" property. The realtors and title companies are there to help the purchaser, and I would never do it any other way. Had we gone through just the owner, the home would have cost two times as much.
This is the kind of story that I've heard in the past, too... I'd like to think most owners are honest and won't try to cheat a buyer, but since they're *not* all like that, someone's going to get burned. I'm sorry to hear you had to go through that with your first home, Abqu. It just seems as if (I may be wrong here... no direct experience with it) there are too many loopholes and things that could go wrong if people who don't know 100% what they're doing (many buyers including myself) decide to get into real estate buying and selling without going through the channels that are set up as safeguards.
I am sorry to hear that Abqu, actually I would feel more comfortable buying from an agency because they are professionals, but when selling it's a huge money difference that really makes me wonder.
I've sold properties myself without realtors in hot markets to motivated buyers who had good credit, stable incomes, etc, and had no problems generally getting it all done in well under a month. I guess I've been lucky so far. I actually get the properties appraised and just ask for appraised value, even though I could probably get quite a bit more in situations like after natural disasters. If a buyer balks on the price, I whip out the appraisal and ask why they would expect me to take less than fair market value, and why they should expect to pay less than that - particularly when my phone is ringing off the hook about the property.
Go for a lawyer who provide these kind of services (do background checks on properties, making sure you get the documents necessary, checking if the property shown to you is the same as the one stated on paper etc.) for you. Since you'll definitely need a lawyer for the transfer anyway. Maybe you can even get a discount package! Having these things done by a professional who btw, you can always sue when they don't do their job right, can save you a LOT of trouble and money in the long run.
