Avoid These 10 Common Mistakes When Buying Property

Avoid These 10 Common Mistakes When Buying Property

Oct. 16th, 2009
in Real Estate
by ElizabethMcLachlan

Most of the mistakes made when purchasing a home often results in problems that are hard to rectify. To ensure that you don’t have to life with the consequences of your own bad judgment, look out for these common mistakes made when purchasing property:

Mistake #1: Grabbing the First Loan You are Offered

Shop around until you’ve found the best deal and talk to professionals, friends and/or real estate agent for referrals. Make sure you get all your quotes on the same day at around the same time, as interest rates might differ from day to day.

Mistake #2: Getting the Location Wrong

Location is everything and you don’t want to go wrong here. Once again, consider all your needs such as the area’s proximity to your place of work, public transport, schools etc. and make sure you pick the area for the right reasons. Also look at future development in the area to ensure that you investment is secure.

Mistake #3: Not Using the Services of a Real Estate Agent

To refuse the services of an experienced agent is a mistake that a lot of buyers make. They forget that an agent is used to handling transactions, negotiating and has knowledge of property prices in the area. Good agents have the ability to keep things in perspective and help you to be rational when things get too stressful.

Mistake #4: Getting the Price Wrong

Your agent will assist you in getting the price right by, among other things, comparing the house prices in the area. Again, this shows the importance of using an agent.

Mistake #5: Buying Beyond Your Limits

You will always find buyers purchasing a property, which leaves them without any disposable income, as they are unable to deal with the monthly down payment as well as other costs like insurance, property tax etc. Avoid this common mistake by carefully calculating how much home you can afford. Choose a maximum price and stick to it.

Mistake #6: Being Overhasty

There are a lot of emotions involved in purchasing a home, which can lead to buyers jumping into a deal prematurely. Be prepared to spend a lot of time house hunting to avoid disappointment.

Mistake #7: Passing on the Inspection

As a buyer you might feel that you are qualified enough to sniff out any problems. Unfortunately this can cost you dearly. Be smart and get a qualified property inspector to check the property before you buy it.

Mistake #8: Over Spending Before Closing

Taking on debt before closing the deal might mean that you no longer qualify for the mortgage. Rather wait till after the closing before you start buying new furniture and other essentials for the new home.

Mistake #9: Not Reading the Contract

Property contracts can be confusing and hard to grasp, but it is essential that you know what you are committing yourself to. Make sure you understand all terms and conditions and ask for advice if you are unsure of anything. Never just sign on the dotted line.

Mistake #10: Not Budgeting for Closing Costs

Remember to budget for closing cost (attorney fees, recording fees, survey fees, brokerage commission etc.) and remember that you will always have hidden cost, whether it is interest rate hikes or personal financial requirements.

Buying a property has its fair share of ups and downs but can be a pleasant experience if you look out for the common mistakes made.

From AzCentral.com Today...this is a great sign, and one more reason for buyers to get out there and take advantage before prices drive too high!!! Please contact me if you'd like to start the process of finding a home!

Worst may be over for housing in the Valley

Signs of recovery starting to surface on the outskirts

37 comments by Catherine Reagor - Oct. 10, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Valley homeowners have watched their property values plummet with a sense of shock and horror during the past year. But the gut-wrenching drop could be over as early signs of the market finally hitting bottom have appeared in some areas.

On Sunday, The Arizona Republic's latest Valley Home Values report will show prices dropped in every Phoenix-area ZIP code during the first eight months of 2009. A closer look at the numbers, though, reveals newer communities on the outer edges of metropolitan Phoenix are seeing smaller declines in home prices this year compared with 2008.

Those areas, including neighborhoods in Buckeye, Gilbert, Queen Creek and Surprise, were the first to experience the housing market's collapse. Those former housing hot spots could be the first to recover. Older areas closer to downtown Phoenix, including many central Phoenix neighborhoods, suffered the biggest home-price hits this year.

Most of these areas were the last parts of the Valley to see housing values tank, but they could bounce back more quickly because many of the neighborhoods are popular with people who want to live closer in.

Positive signs

And there are signs the Valley's housing market has begun to inch toward a recovery.

Foreclosures have dropped during the past two months. Home sales are well ahead of last year's pace. Home prices are slowly ticking up.

"Valley home prices hit bottom in April," said Mike Orr, who publishes the "Cromford Report," a daily analysis of metropolitan Phoenix's home-sales data. "Foreclosures have peaked. The market is struggling to establish a clear direction."

Orr said the Valley's affordable-housing markets, especially those farther out, are seeing gains in home prices now.

But prices continue to fall in the most expensive neighborhoods.

The latest figures on foreclosure rates, home sales and home prices may be early indicators the housing market is starting to come back.

Foreclosures

Valley foreclosures fell 29 percent in September from the record 5,300 reached in July. Pre-foreclosures were also down last month, but there were still 7,857 homes that lenders started to foreclose on.

This is the key gauge of the health of metro Phoenix's housing market.

As long as lenders continue to foreclose on Valley homes and resell them for half of what they sold for a few years ago, home prices will fall.

Check out the foreclosure-resale chart in Sunday's Valley Home Values package to see how many foreclosure homes sold in your neighborhood this year.

Home sales

In June, Valley home sales buoyed by foreclosure-home resales rivaled monthly records set during the boom years. Although sales have slowed a little in the past few months, 85,000 homes have sold across metro Phoenix so far this year. That's 50 percent ahead of last year's pace.

There's a positive indicator in the slight drop in recent home sales. Fewer of the sales are foreclosure homes.

Earlier this year, foreclosures homes accounted for almost 70 percent of all Valley home sales. Slightly less than half of the home sales in September were foreclosure homes.

Home prices

The median price of a Valley home has ticked up to $135,000 after falling to a 10-year low of about $120,000 six months ago.

The current median is half of what the record median high price for the market was in 2006, but it is heading in the right direction. Valley home prices started falling in mid-2007 but didn't plummet until late in the year when lenders placed thousands of foreclosure homes on the market all at once and began accepting low-ball offers.

The supply of foreclosure homes for sale in the Valley has also fallen, another good sign for the market. There currently are about 4,500 foreclosure homes listed for sale, compared with more than 20,000 in February.

The federal government's plan to push more lenders to restructure the mortgages of borrowers facing foreclosure could help ensure foreclosures don't soar again.

A full recovery isn't imminent, but the latest signs suggest the Valley's housing market is beginning to pull out of its nose dive.

Another Reason to Call Us About BoomText - Join the Wave!!!

Text messaging can boost repeat and new business

By Sam Williams, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, September 18, 2009

“I was amazed with the results…we had a 280 percent response rate!” Diane Kephart, marketing director for Chick-fil-A at El Con, explained. “We sent a text message offer to 64 existing customers and generated 182 redemptions in just three hours! The costs were negligible and the ROI from add-on purchases was excellent.”

The smartest, easiest and fastest way to improve revenues has always been to sell more to existing customers and clients and to have them refer you to new prospects. Account representatives, customer service representatives and retail and counter clerks can do this by cross-selling and up-selling at each transaction. Direct mail offers and outbound calls to existing or dormant customers can stimulate traffic and repeat purchases. But sending sales text messages (TMs) to existing customers can be much faster, far less expensive and more effective.

“It’s a new medium with excellent response rates,” said Levi McClendon, co-founder of BoomText, a Phoenix-based text messaging company. “We usually see figures of from 10 percent to 60 percent, but Diane’s example is remarkable.” ephart explained, “In this case I encouraged existing customers to forward the TM offer to their friends, so there was a viral effect. We generated new customers through referrals.”

Debra Brown and John Hand IV, recent grads from the University of Arizona and co-founders of another text messaging company, explain how it works: “First you need a group of your existing customers to agree or to ‘opt-in’ to receive TM offers from you. You should only send messages to those who have asked for them. Then you need to create a well designed offer with an immediate call to action measured in hours, not days. If you add the forwarding feature and if your offer is ‘hot’ enough, your opt-in list can grow virally hour by hour with new, first time buyers.”

Is this Twitter?

No, explains Geoffrey Schultz, BoomText’s account representative in Tucson. “Twitter recipients often receive multiple tweets each day and few, if any, require immediate action.” Schultz cautions, “Sales TMs should be sent no more than six to eight times a month. Otherwise you may annoy and turn off your audience.”

It’s easier than Twitter to opt-in for TMs, too.

According to Kephart, “Many of our customers use their cell phones to opt-in to receive our TM offers as they are enjoying their meals. Tent cards at the table walk them through the steps.”

What’s the cost? Both organizations offer free trial periods, and the charge per message is well below that of a direct mail piece or the full cost of an outbound call.

“We are still at the stage where we have a new solution searching for the right applications,” says Brown, “While opt-in TMs won’t replace traditional ways of increasing repeat purchases, they are still a great new medium with extraordinary ROIs for sales applications.”