Smart Buyers Innovate, Plan, and Rise to Challenge

The sellers market and tight real estate inventory is creating a challenge for home buyers across the country, according to the American Homeowners Foundation, an independent educational consumer group serving the nation’s 70 million homeowners and millions of future homeowners. “Many home buyers are behaving impulsively, making offers on homes that aren’t right for them, forgoing home inspections, and paying more than they need to”, according to Foundation President Beth D. Hahn. “What they need to do is develop and execute a plan which gets them what they want and need, without unnecessary risk and expense.”

Homebuyers, especially first time homebuyers, need unbiased advice and objective information. The first step is research. Homebuyers should analyze their housing needs and learn how to conduct a methodical home search. They should find out what factors will affect the potential appreciation of neighborhoods they are considering. Buyers should decide in advance what features are most important and rank them in priority order. Both steps will help buyers focus on the right neighborhood and on homes with the right features.

Negotiating skills are critical to buyers. “In most cases the real estate agent is working for the seller”, according to Hahn. “A buyer using a traditional agent is badly outnumbered. He or she is negotiating not only with the seller but also with two agents and two agencies all of which represent the seller. The buyer has to learn how to be a good negotiator, or get a buyer’s agent to represent them. Add to that the challenges of getting a loan, the anxieties of incurring a major debt and the complexities of closing on the sale and you’ve got one stressed-out individual”.

To help home buyers in this challenging process the Foundation has published The Complete Homebuyers Guide, a 151 page tool to help buyers avoid many of the home buying traps that cost unnecessary time, money and headaches. The book explains the mortgage process, buyer agency benefits, and the importance of assessing prospects for neighborhood appreciation and much more. “Mortgage financing is critical” according to Hahn. “Mortgage brokers are subject to relatively little regulation and their compensation structure often provides an incentive for them to maximize mortgage rates and points. An educated buyer is aware of this and is therefore able to get the most service from his mortgage broker at the least cost”.

The Complete Homebuyers Guide explains how to analyze your housing needs and how to conduct a methodical home hunt. It includes a home specification chart to help buyers rank the relative importance of various home features. This will help buyers focus on the right neighborhood and on homes with the right features.

The chapter on negotiations is particularly helpful to buyers. With the seller often represented by two buyers and two brokers, the buyer is outnumbered by five to one in some cases. The buyer has to learn how to be a good negotiator. This chapter will teach them the basic elements of smart negotiation.

More information about The Complete Homebuyers Guide can be found by clicking on the name link.

The American Homeowners Foundation is an independent educational consumer group, which has been serving the nation’s 70 million homeowners and millions of future homeowners since 1984. AHF is dedicated to helping them make the wisest and most well informed decisions regarding what for most is their single greatest financial investment.

www.AmericanHomeowners.org.
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