After years of working in the real estate business, I’ve learned one of the most important things a buyer needs to know in order to get the best price on a home. There is only one reason why people look to buy foreclosed homes, they think they will get a great deal for the home. Just like anything you buy, say it’s a new car, new furniture, etc. there is one solid piece of information that is like gold when looking for the best deal.
The solid gold information you need to find when searching for a great price on a home, is knowing the seller’s current situation.
Once you know and understand that the seller is desperate to sell, you are at the greatest advantage when you start to negotiate. An example would be a recent divorce or a spouse that passed away. Both of these situations have lost half their household income and, usually, the one income remaining is not enough to support the mortgage payments, along with all their other bills. Believe me, just about every mortgage application I take needs both incomes to approve.
A seller in either one of these situations usually wants to get rid of the home fast, because it helps them to move on from what trauma they just went through. Price isn’t on their mind, time is more important at this point.
Remember, if you really want a good price from a seller in this situation, then you need to think business and don’t let your emotions take over. It’s in our nature to feel bad when traumatic things happen to good people, but you just want to buy a good home at a good price.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!
Joshua,
Great post. In my experience, I totally agree that figuring out the sellers situation is the golden ticket to leveraging a great price. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! I’ll continue to share quality tips I’ve learned over the years.
Joshua,
I appreciate your work. I can echo what you are saying here… This is a huge key to getting a deal!
This sounds like pretty solid advice. I guess it kind of work that way in most business transactions, you can seriously play another’s life situation to your advantage. Thanks for sharing, I will keep this in mind as I being my home search!