Maybe it’s just me.
Lately, I’ve been running into potential home buyers that want a “good deal”. That’s all well and good. The thing is: a “good deal” is something different for everybody. Of course, I’ve always thought that living in a house was a good deal anyway. Roof over my head, cool in the summer, warm in the winter, a place to rest my head at night and indoor plumbing. What could be a better deal than that?
When I try to dig into what a good deal might be it’s different for everyone. Most people, of course, want to feel like the got the home so cheap they could flip it the next day and make $50,000. Others want the seller to kick in for all the closing costs and such so buying the house costs as close to nothing as possible. Still others are looking for good schools, low crime, two blocks from Metro and a half acre of land.
Nice, if you can find it.
An Old Real Estate Joke
The real estate agent is driving around with his client looking at houses. The client keeps finding something wrong with each one.
Finally, the client tells the real estate agent that he’s just really looking for a good deal. So the real estate agent asks the potential home buyer,”If I knew of a home in excellent condition that meets your criteria and can be demonstrated through objective data to be selling at least 25% less than market value, would that be a good deal?”
The home buyer gets very excited and says, “Absolutely! I’d buy it in a minute!!”
The real estate agent smiles and replies, “So would every real estate agent in the area including me.”
The Point of The Story
The moral to this story is that real estate professionals look at homes all the time, scour the market for a variety of different clients seeking homes that match a large array of criteria. We look at everything from condos, to townhouses to modest single family homes and McMansions.
The bottom line is that if there is a “deal” to be had out in the marketplace of homes, someone else — either a real estate agent or a real estate investor — knows about it and has probably moved in for the kill. Thinking that there is some special “deal” out there waiting for you is a myth.
The Real Deal
The real deal is finding a home you can be happy living in because it pretty much meets your criteria, is in the neighborhood or area you want to live in and is being offered for a fair price. If you find it and you get terms you can be happy with then you have gotten yourself one helluva deal. You can take that to the bank.
[...] there’s a difference in a deal and a steal and I believe many buyers don’t see it. Maryland real estate agent Ken Montville agrees, Most people, of course, want to feel like the got the home so cheap they could flip it the next [...]