Do you want the get the best house you can for the least amount of money? Then make sure you are in the strongest negotiating position possible. Price is only one bargaining chip in the negotiations, and not necessarily the most important one. Often other terms, such as the strength of the Buyer or the length of escrow, are critical to Sellers. In years past, I always recommended that Buyers get "pre-qualified" by a lender. This means that you spend a few minutes on the phone with a lender who asks questions. Based on the answers, the lender pronounces you "pre-qualified" and issues a certificate that you can show to a Seller. Sellers are aware that such certificates are sometimes WORTHLESS, and here's why! None of the information has been verified! Often times unknown problems I've seen include recorded judgments, IRS tax liens, child support payments due, glitches on the credit report due to any number of reasons both accurate and inaccurate that can significantly delay financing approval, down payments that have not been in the client's bank account long enough, etc. So the way to make a strong offer, today, is to get "PRE-APPROVED." This happens AFTER all information has been checked and verified. You are actually APPROVED for the loan and the only loose end is the appraisal on the property. This process takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on your personal financial situation. It's a VERY POWERFUL weapon I recommend that all my clients have in their NEGOTIATING ARSENAL.

If you have a house to sell, it is highly recommended that you sell the house before selecting a house to buy! Contingent sales fall through more often than not. Let's pretend that we go out looking for the perfect house for you. We find it and you love it! Now you have to go make an offer to the Seller. You want the Seller to reduce the price and wait until you sell your house. The Seller figures that's a risky deal, since he might pass up a buyer who DOESN'T have to sell a house while he's waiting for you. So he says OK, he'll do the contingency but it has to be a full price offer! So you see, you paid more for the house than you could have because of the contingency. Now you have to sell your existing house, and in a hurry! Otherwise you lose the dream house! So to sell quickly you might take an offer that's lower than if you had more time. the bottom line is that buying before selling MIGHT COST YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! I recommend that you sell first, then buy. If you're concerned that there is not a house on the market for you, then go on a window-shopping trip. You can identify possible houses and locations without falling in love with a specific house. If you feel confident after that then put your house on the market. Another tactic, IF the Seller will agree to it, is to make the sale "subject to seller finding suitable housing." Adding this phrase to the listing means that WHEN YOU DO FIND A BUYER, you will have some time to find a new place. If you don't like anything to your liking, you don't have to sell your present home. Of course, if you are planning on selling to buy a more expensive home, make sure you will qualify for the more expensive home, which means getting a lender's "Pre-Approval."

Before house hunting, make a list of nine things you want in a new place. Then make a list of nine things you don't want. I call this "NINE OF THIS AND NONE OF THAT." You can use this list as a scorecard to rate each property that you see. The one with the biggest score wins! This helps avoid confusion and keeps things in perspective when you're comparing dozens of homes. When house hunting, keep in mind the difference between "SKIN AND BONES." The BONES are the things that cannot be changed such as the location, view, size of lot, noise in the area, school district and floor plan. the SKIN represents easily changed surface finishes like carpet, wallpaper, color and window treatments. Buy the house with good BONES, because the SKIN can always be changed to match your tastes. I always recommend that you imagine each house as if it were vacant. Consider each house on its underlying merits, not the Seller's decorating skills.

Your agent should show you everything available that meets your requirements. Don't make a decision on a house until you feel that you've seen enough to pick the best one. In the late 1980's, homes were selling quickly, usually a few days after listing. In that kind of market, agents advised their clients to make an offer ON THE SPOT if they liked the house. That was good advice at the time. Today, there isn't always this urgency, unless a home is drastically underpriced, and you'll know if it is. Don't forget to check into SCHOOL DISTRICTS of the area you're considering. Information is available on every school; such as class sizes, % of students that go on to college, SAT scores, etc. You can get this information from your agent or directly from the school. HOWEVER, once you find the "perfect" house, don't drag your feet making a decision. We are still in a strong sellers market and if the home appeals enough to you for you to make an offer, then there may be several other buyers floating around out there thinking about buying the very same home. Especially immaculate, well-kept homes with good curb appeal and manicured yards, that are priced right, rarely last more than a few weeks on the market.

You may miss out on your "dream home" by relying on advertising to find it. A word of caution - agents often create ads to make the phone ring. Not only that, magazine ads are usually around 3 weeks old by the time the magazine hits the stands. By the time you see the ad, the "home of your dreams" could already be SOLD. For this reason, I want you to be very careful when reading ads. Remember the person writing the ad is putting the property in its best light. It is what's not mentioned in the ad that is usually more important than what's in the ad. Your OWN AGENT is more likely to critique the property with an eye towards how well it meets your needs and will point out any drawbacks you should know about. So whether you decide to work with me, or not, pick an agent you feel comfortable with and enlist the services of that agent as a buyer's broker. Then you become a client with all the rights, benefits and privileges created by this agency relationship and you're no longer just a shopper. Did you know that many homes are sold WITHOUT A SIGN ever going up or an AD EVER BEING PUT IN THE PAPER? These "great deals" go to theose people who are committed to working with one agent. When an agent hears of the great buy, who do you think the agent is going to call? . . . His or her client. So to get the best buy on a property, I always recommend you hire your own agent and stick with him.