contact sellers’ agents, and secure appointments for viewing the homes. On their own, buyers have a more difficult time with these things. This is even more so the case when a buyer is moving due to relocation or employment opportunity and does not engage a buyer’s agent to handle matters.
NEGOTIATING IS HARDER ON YOUR OWN
A real estate agent will keep the transaction “at arm’s length,” such that personalities and emotions do not become involved. Price negotiations take a special skill and understanding of the psychology of offering and counter-offering.
CONTRACTUALLY SPEAKING…
There are many contracts and documents involved in purchasing a house. The stack is typically about a half an inch thick or more. Forttunately, they were good neighbors and settled the matter with a few signatures.Yet, they require detailed and accurate completions. Buying a property is not necessarily a “fill-in-the- blanks” transaction. One mistake, let’s say in title work, could haunt the buyer well down the line after purchase. This very situation happened. A property that sat on a double lot was put on the market. The neighbor bought it to carve off a bit of the second lot to expand his own yard. The seller then put the home back on the market, and it sold. Months later, through a property tax notification, it came out that, in preparing new deeds for the properties, the expanded yard area was correctly in the name of the neighbor; however, the house had been mistakenly been transferred to the home buyer. The new homeowner now owned both houses, and according to the tax office, the neighbor owned his expanded driveway and yard. Thanks to a good catch by the agent and title company, this mistake was caught. Fortunately, they were good neighbors and settled the matter with a few signatures.
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