There is Light at the End of the Tunnel
March 6, 2017
Arghhhh!!! This is the statement I can hear in the minds, and see on the faces of so many first time home buying clients in the Nashville market.
"Why is this?" you might ask. Well, the answer is clear, and for those of you first time home buyers that have been looking for an extended period of time, you could probably answer this question for me.
The answer is "COMPETITION". Competition is fierce in a market like Nashville's. When you have eight to one hundred families moving to Nashville per day the housing inventory becomes low.
Although the inventory in the Nashville market is low, there are many things to consider that are going to give you a competitive edge over the other people out there wanting to buy the same house you are interested in.
First, hire a good realtor. You might ask, "Phillip what makes a good realtor"? That is an excellent question. For me, that answer is summed up in three simple statements which are:
1) Listening to what my client needs and wants in a home.
2) Availability to my clients that I am working with. I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say. " we called a realtor and talked to them, but they said they were busy..." So, interview the realtor you are considering because you want to make sure they truly have your best interests in mind. Ask them questions like what is your availability on the weekends? Why do you like being a realtor? In a market like Nashville, everyone wants to be a realtor or a part-time realtor, but that is not what you need as a consumer. You need a full time, in the "trenches" with you Realtor.
3) The ability to negotiate. In my experience, the one that is willing to ask is going to receive. So, if you have a Realtor that does not want to negotiate on your behalf or is simply not good at it, well then you might find yourself losing out on a lot of homes or even overpaying for one. One of my sneaky sub-points to negotiating, is can your Realtor problem solve? If your realtor is not one that can problem solve, and think of creative solutions to your needs and the needs of the person on the other side of the transaction then you will also find yourself in what feels like a never-ending home search, and ultimately you will become discouraged with the home searching process.
The Second tip, is there is no such thing as a perfect home in any market. Especially a chaotic one like Nashville's where there always seems to be multiple offers on any home that is worth buying. Having said that, I am not telling you to buy a house that has major issues with it. Such as; foundation issues, water damage, and or anything else that is a "major repair".
This is where having a good Realtor comes into play again. They are not going to push you into buying a home that is falling apart, but they are also going to try and negotiate on your behalf to either get the issues fixed before closing or to get you some sort of reasonable compensation for those issues, so that you can have them repaired once or before you move in.
So, if you are looking for a perfect home and expect the seller to fix every little thing that comes back on the home inspection, well then you are going to insult the seller and miss out on another opportunity to get into a home that you could be happy with for a very long time. Again, listen to your realtor if you have picked a good one. They should be able to advise you and lead you into a successful home buying experience.
The last tip I have for this blog entry is: try to have some money down. In the Nashville market, trying to make offers on homes that are worth buying and asking for closing costs is just simply an uphill battle. The reason I say this is there will probably be multiple offers, and they are likely to go with an offer that is conventional and the buyer is not asking for any money in closing costs. This is just how it is in a seller's market, and I strongly recommend accepting that early on in your home-buying process.
If you don't, you are more than likely to have a hard time understanding why you can never win a bidding war. Finding a good lender is tied directly to this. You want one that will work to make your home purchase work. You want a lender that can problem solve and do want is necessary with to get you into a home. If you have a good realtor and are confident in them and their abilities then trust the people they refer you to to get pre-qualified.
In closing, your home buying experience in an extremely competitive can be a good one or a bad one based on whether or not you approach it using some of these tips or other tips to educate yourself before you just jump into buying a home.
I would just suggest that you think about some of these recommendations, and truly consider them and maybe even do them. I promise you. If you do, you will avoid a lot of the home buyer experiences/pitfalls that are simply not necessary to experience when you have a realtor that works hard for you, you decide up front there are no perfect homes, and you have some money saved which allows a lender to do so much more for you.