Be “choicy” when making buying decisions

I learned the word “choicy” many years ago in southern West Virginia. I understood it to mean a person who was a bit choosier — more careful in deciding among alternatives — than simply choosy, which is pretty choicy to start with.

Choicy is a good standard to apply to spending large sums of money for real estate. It also helps in deciding spouses and cigars, both of which benefit from careful aging.

Several weeks ago I was asked to help in choosing from a menu of three properties. The buyers could afford to spend about $750,000 in an area about a 90-minute drive from a major city.

Choice A was 40 acres of hilly woods with a relatively new 4,000-square-foot, post- and-beam second home. The land had little value other than privacy protection and woodland recreation. We estimated that about 75 percent of the property’s market value was in the house and three-car detached garage.

The buyers liked the house—lots of windows, granite counters, spacious deck. They could move right in, and friends could be invited for a celebratory cookout on July 4th.  The seller hinted that he could sweeten the deal with his ATV. Read more

Country property is not a buyer’s market

A buyer’s market exists today for much of our real estate. Too many properties for sale and not enough buyers have cut asking prices in some — but not all — urban and suburban markets.

Buyers are advantaged in a buyer’s market, except when they can’t buy. With our economy producing less and energy costing more, buyers are wary. The pinch on mortgage money in distressed housing markets keeps them sidelined.

Country property — farms, undeveloped land, upscale second homes and timberland — does not look like a buyer’s market. Asking prices in most places appear to be holding their own, and are trending up in certain markets.

My completely unscientific look through the listings of the major country-property websites shows asking-price strength in most areas. Selling prices and sales may be off here and there, but I couldn’t determine that from the asking prices. Read more

Property buyers: Putting the “do” in due diligence

“Due diligence” is the process of careful investigation that buyers use to identify the values, issues and problems embedded in whatever they’re buying.

Since all property purchases are different and no Consumer Reports exists to simplify making choices, each buyer must dig out the story of a seller’s dirt.

This research is the responsibility of the buyer—not the buyer’s lawyer, not the agents involved, not the buyer’s lender or appraiser and not the buyer’s third cousin by marriage who was a real-estate agent 20 years ago.

The point of spending the time and money doing pre-offer research is to gather reliable information from which to propose a sensible price and terms.

I advise buyers to do most of their due diligence in advance of making an offer rather than propose a 90-day study contingency. Advance research gives the buyer a fact-based offering price, not an approximate stab in a hostile dark.

Deals have a better chance of getting done when the offering price is as hard as the buyer can make it. A study contingency amounts to a free look for the buyer, and sellers are often reluctant to tie up their properties this way. Read more

Eight Questions a Buyer Must Answer Before Submitting an Offer

1. Boundaries lines.
Do the boundaries of the seller’s property on the ground follow the boundaries as described in the seller’s deed? They should. A surveyor can plot the deed’s boundary description on a topographical map, which will help you determine in a general sense whether the deed matches the ground reality. If the description does not match what you find on the ground, hire a surveyor to figure out what’s wrong.

2. Physical and legal access
Does the seller have legal and physical access to the property he’s selling? If the seller’s property has frontage on a state-maintained public road, the seller should have direct access. If the seller’s property does not have direct access to a state-maintained public road, the buyer must make sure that the seller is conveying a legal and physical right to cross the property of another(s) to get to that state-maintained road. Read more

Do you know more than your Agent?

You might, but you might not. And if you begin your relationship with an attitude that you know more than your agent you may be cutting yourself out of potential opportunities.

Many buyers start a relationship with a listing agent with a disposition that the only purpose that agent serves is to sell you a particular property. That may be very true. However, with a little conversation you may find a particular agent may be willing to fill you in on recent sales, or recent community developments or other properties in the area that may fit your needs. Take it upon yourself to verify some of these statements. You could have found a person capable of helping you achieve your goals. Read more

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