The Biggest Time Waster Buyers Fall Victim to in Our Market

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We come across many buyers on a daily basis and, often, we notice that some of them are quite misinformed. The source of this misinformation is a range of online mortgage calculators that ask buyers to put in a bunch of their information - such as the home price and anticipated interest rate - and buyers walking away with the impression that they can afford more than they can. These buyers will come to us and tell us they don’t need to be approved because they’ve already ran the numbers.

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The mortgage application process is 
much more in-depth than any online calculator.

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What many buyers don’t understand is that the mortgage application process is much more in-depth than any online calculator. It’s not just about determining what monthly payment is in your budget. There are many different factors involved; a typical lender is going to look at how long you’ve been at your current job, your credit score, and the type of loan you’re going to get, among many other factors! Most people don’t know what’s on their credit report, which is a major factor in obtaining a mortgage.

Bottom line, the first thing you need to do if you’re planning on buying is sit down with a lender and find out your entire financial picture. Any other first step is a waste of time and could lead to some major headaches down the road. When you get pre-approved, you’ll get an in-depth look at your financial situation and will know exactly what to expect from the buying process. Really, it’s a no-brainer!

If you have questions about this crucial topic, or if you would like more real estate advice, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and my team. We’re always looking to help!

Reevaluating Your Motivation to Sell

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Stop rationalizing why your home didn’t sell. If you tried to sell your home in the past and didn’t succeed, you’re going to do one of three things:

• Take it off the market and give up.
• Rehire the same agent to get it relisted, even though they were unsuccessful the first time.
• Interview new agents and see if they better suit your goals.

On a daily basis, I talk to people who’ve failed to sell their homes. What I learned is that many inevitably try to rationalize why it didn’t sell. In general, as human beings, we love to rationalize or justify our current situation when things don’t go our way because we need to associate a story with that situation to make us feel better. Say, for example, you go to a job interview and don’t get the job. Well, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. Or, more to the point, you tried selling your home and it didn’t sell. Perhaps it wasn’t the right time. Maybe I wasn’t meant to move.  

When I talk to these people, I always respond by asking them certain questions. What do you think went wrong when you tried to sell? Did you get any offers? Where were you going to move to if it got sold? When did you want to be there by? Peeling back the onion is the only way to learn the seller’s true motivation - typically factors like a growing family, a desire for a better school district for their kids, or a job transfer brewing on the back-end.

Regardless of what the reasons may be, my advice to them and to you is simple: reevaluate your current situation. Really ask yourself why you wanted to sell in the past, and why you’d want to sell in the future. Determine whether there’s genuine motivation behind your need to sell in the first place. If there isn’t, you’re wasting your time. If there is, you’ll find that you won’t need to rationalize or add a story to your situation. When you’re done doing that, you’ll be much better prepared to take the next step and interview with new agents and truly know what they can do for you.

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You can rationalize all day, but nothing 
gets done without action.

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You can rationalize all day, but nothing gets done without action. Get that property back on the market. If you want to know what my team can do for you and how we can sell your property for a great price, please call us or shoot us an email. Happy selling!