As the saying goes, “it takes a woman’s touch to make the house a home.” We often see from years of experience that when a man and woman are looking to buy a house, it's almost always the woman that decides where she wants her family to live, and the man holds the purse strings, nodding or frowning behind her.
I always say when you walk inside a home and you get that “feeling” (all you women know what I’m talking about!) then you know that’s the right house for you. The man will most often agree, as he wants a happy wife and of course a happy life that is until, he sees the price!
We’ve all heard the sharp intake of air when we tell any man the price, so now is the perfect time to start the difficult conversation of money. No-one likes to talk money, either because they feel they are being judged as cheap or they think they must try to act as if they can afford it, but reality is, they cannot.
This conversation is a must and being able to move forward with the purchase of your dream home means starting up this dialogue as soon as possible. Lots of people don’t like negotiating but let’s face it, at some point in your life you’re going to have to, and there’s no better time to start than now.
First thing to remember, don’t get carried away with these property programmes that everyone watches. They often advise in offering much lower than the asking price, but what you must take into consideration is the year in which the programme originally aired. Like any housing market in the world, it does fluctuate from year to year.
You’ve all heard the phrase “location, location, location”… these words have more effect on pricing than many people actually realize and you can use it to your advantage when making an offer, by asking yourself if the area you’re looking in are maintaining their prices or are sellers taking a hit and having to reduce, just to get it sold? Your agent should be able to advise you, but the easiest way to find out for yourself is by looking at local market inventory. If there are a lot of properties of a similar design for sale, then you know you can start with a sensible offer. Beware! Go too low and you could offend the seller, then they won’t be open to any negotiation at all….. it’s their memories that they’re putting a price on after all, so be compassionate. And if there aren’t many houses for sale of a similar design, then this creates a demand and any offers being put forward need to be closer to the asking price. Don’t forget, your Agent will be able to guide you when making an offer.
So when it comes to negotiating on that perfect price, all offers are acceptable but only a few will be considered!
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