Home Buying Etiquette 101: Things You Should Never Do When Searching For A Home
Looking for a luxury home for sale can be really exciting. It is one of the times in your life when you can dream big and feel like the potential is unlimited. After all, your affordable dream house may be just around the corner. As you look around for the perfect home, however, be aware of some of the etiquette that all too many home buyers fail to consider. After all, ignoring the best practices in home buying can cost you big on everything from what you invest in your future home to closing costs. When in doubt, consider these things you should never do during the home buying experience.
Never Make Unreasonably Low Offers
Yes, it's standard practice for a home buyer to make an offer on a home that's less than the asking price. However, if you go too low on your initial asking price, it is rude and seen as a waste of everyone's time. Only a very desperate seller would want to even engage in negotiations with someone who made an unreasonably low offer in the hopes of gaining the upper hand. The opposite happens in that case. The best thing to do is consult with a real estate attorney before making any offer on the home.
Never Make a Lot of Demands if You're Not Genuinely Interested
The thing that irks home sellers and realtors the most is probably when home buyers make extreme demands and take up huge amounts of time when they don't have a serious interest in a home. It's totally fine to ask questions and request showings of the home as you need. However, if you're not really into the home, don't ask the sellers and realtors to jump through hoops to try to change your mind about it. While your own real estate agent is happy to research schools in the neighborhood and help you decide whether building on to a house makes sense, the seller and their real estate agent aren't likely to appreciate giving a lot of their time for no potential return.
Never Blab to the Seller
You may genuinely like some of the sellers that you will encounter. The sellers should be courteous, and they are welcoming you into their homes. It's easy to want to have an in-depth chat with them. However, be aware that, if you give away too much information in your discussion with the seller, that may not be in your favor in the long run. For example, a seller who knows that you are desperate to buy within a certain time frame may not be flexible with the price because they know you are likely to meet their asking price in order to meet your moving deadline.
Finally, keep in mind that, if you are respectful throughout the home buying process, you may win the respect from real estate lawyers, realtors, and sellers alike. You may end up being best friends with the seller of your home. There is certainly a bond that comes from having both owned and lived in the same house. If you want to engage in a real friendship with the seller, attempt to do so after the purchase has been made. If the seller isn't interested in a friendship at that point, you can still feel great about minding your manners and following proper home buying etiquette throughout the process.