June 9, 2006: Secret of getting a great real estate deal: Be willing to walk away
Let's say that getting a bargain price for your next home matters to you more than anything else.
This is not the normal case for homeowners. Instead, they fall in love with one particular home and pay whatever it takes to get it.
But suppose that you want to make sure you get the most house you can for the purchase price, and you're willing to be flexible about location, amenities, etc.
In fact, if you approached buying a residence in this way, you would be emulating the strategy used by sharp investors to get the most they can for their money.
We'll start by looking at every listing for every home for sale in the general neighborhood we want to live in. We're going to eliminate those that are too large, too small or otherwise inappropriate. Even though price will matter most in our ultimate selection, it's not the only thing that matters.
We'll look at each home, and we might eliminate a few more - homes that are trashed or that won't appreciate as well as some of our other choices. As we look, we'll want to make careful note of features that add or subtract value.
We'll also want to look for signs of motivation: A high number of days on market, homes that are vacant or offer evidence of divorce or pre-foreclosure, etc. We'll want to compare the price of each house with the prices of all the others.
It could be that a home we like is already priced substantially under market value. Bingo! We're done.
More likely, the home we want most is not priced as low as some others. But guess what? If we're willing to lose one or more of our preferred candidates, we can low-ball at will.
And that's the whole secret to getting a home at the lowest possible price. All you have to do is be willing to walk away again and again until you strike the deal you want.
Investors have no problem doing this. Homeowners who master their emotions can train themselves to do it, too.
Greg Swann is the designated broker for BloodhoundRealty.com, a full-service Metropolitan Phoenix real estate brokerage. This article originally appeared in the West Valley regional sections of the Arizona Republic.
Spread the word: Click here for a printer-ready version of this column.
Or: Steal this book: I've written over 200 of these real estate columns. They are consistently one of the most popular features on our blogs. Many of them are dated and/or entirely Phoenixocentric. But many others are timeless and generic. If you want to use any of my columns on your weblog or web site, feel free. Three rules: Don't change my text, credit me as the author and give me a link back to http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/ with appropriate anchor text. Something like this, perhaps:
Am I link-baiting? You bet. The quid pro quo is free content for your site that pulls eyeballs and excites interest.<a href="http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/" target="_blank"> Phoenix Realtor Greg Swann</a> suggested I share this with you:
