A Smart Buyer

A Buyer is very excited once they locate and have an executed contract with a Seller. At times, this excitement translates into wanting to see the property as much as possible before taking ownership.

Buyers begin their search with a list of homes, and when they locate their target purchase/investment, they should make their offer. From the time of seeing their target future home, to an accepted contract with the current owner, the Buyer might have seen their future home a total of 20 minutes to around 1 hour. After going under contract, there is a general inspection which could lead to further specific inspections on very specific items (A/C, Termite, Plumbing, etc.).

An issue I see occur is a Buyer gets too excited over what future plans they have for the house which translates into an excessive amount of time and energy towards contractor appointments before they own the property. Getting bids and pricing is important for a Buyer. However, there has to be an acceptable understanding of how much can be done with a small window of time before taking ownership.

Buyers need to set themselves some boundaries for their benefit and all other parties involved. Too many pieces of the buying puzzle will confuse everyone involved, which leads to misunderstandings, poor memory, and confusion.

With a re-sale home which is occupied, this could negatively affect how repair negotiations go. Buyers who visit the property so often for too long, can chip away at the seller's level of tolerance and thus hurt future negotations on a repair. New home construction is even more problematic because if there is work being done by owner/seller/builder to complete the project by close date, the buyer could engage in a conversation with the owner / builder.

I have rarely seen a situation where builder and buyer during a new home transaction, see eye to eye on all aspects if the property being sold is a Spec Home. Spec Home & New Home Construction are critical times for a Realtor to provide value for a Buyer. If the Realtor for that Buyer is not present during one of these question and answer periods, then promises could be made or facts could be misunderstood. Always go through your Realtor; buyers should accept a ''point man'' for the work prior to closing and that point man is their Realtor.

And of course, there has to be a healthy understanding of what exactly is being done AND exactly what meetings take place prior to closing (and those contractor bids than are personal changes of buyer which could be done AFTER the closing).