Home buyers, please dont aggravate the sellers

Friday, May 2nd, 2014 Issue 18, Volume 18.

Buying and selling a home is typically a very stressful situation for both the home seller and the buyers in any market. There is no magic pill that can make it easier. Your professional REALTOR should be able to make the process run smoother and help keep a cooler head to keep emotions, misunderstanding and hurt feelings from ruining a perfectly good transaction.

There are, of course, things that each party must do to show respect to the other and not upset the apple cart.

Perhaps this list of "Buyers Donts" has been the unwritten protocol for so long, our compliance is expected. Yet, there is always that one buyer who has to do it "their way." With that being said, no longer consider the list to be unwritten, but read and heed.

Dont skip appointments: It may be alright to text a friend five minutes before you are expected for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but it is not alright to skip a showing of a home under any circumstances. Please realize that the homeowner has been frantically rushing through the house removing the daily day-to-day clutter that accumulates and cleaning where cleaning is warranted before rushing out of the house with the kids, and possibly pets, for a few hours to allow you complete access to their home. Its just rude.

Follow the house rules: If there are multiple pairs of shoes neatly aligned at the front door go ahead and remove your shoes. Dont smoke in a house. Dont use the bathroom. If there is a pet in the home, dont let them out. If a door is locked, leave it locked. Dont let kids run wild or bounce off of furniture. Never touch anything personal. Dont go through drawers or closets it is one thing to looking at a closet for space, it is another to flip through the clothes or other items.

Please note, in this day and age of technology, many homes have both video and audio monitoring devices (both are legal). Not only may inappropriate behavior be observed it just might leave a bad taste in the owners mouth if you want to negotiate for this home. On that note, never discuss your negotiation strategy or price range while in the house.

Dont nitpick: Remember, you may be being observed in real time as you are going through the home. Start throwing jabs at the homeowner about their color schemes or decorating skills and you just may be talking yourself right out of the home, no matter how badly youd like to buy it.

Stay focused on the big picture: the location, natural lighting, floor plan, and amenities the issues that really matter when buying a home.

Laundry list: Occasionally a buyer will want to include a list of every little defect in a home when presenting an offer thinking that it will give them leverage to negotiate a lowball offer. The sellers obvious thought process will be to question if the buyer really wants the home at all.

See the article here:
Home buyers, please dont aggravate the sellers