TIPS FOR BUYERS FROM MY IDAHO HOME, LLC.

1. Discuss with your partner or spouse what it is you’re looking for before starting to look at properties. Make a list of “must have” features together, then discuss what else you would like but can live without. After you have looked at several properties, re-evaluate your criteria. Sometimes your priorities will have shifted or you will have added new ones.

2. Determine realistically how much you can afford before you start looking. Lenders will usually pre-qualify you for free. This will save time and save unnecessary disappointment for everyone.

3. Don’t sign a contract with an agent that locks you into looking with him or her, or guarantees them a commission eve if you find the property yourself. Specify instead, that a commission will be paid only if you buy a property shown to you by that agent. This will allow you to look with others, and also at properties being sold by the owner, at your own convenience.

4. Don’t bring an agent with you to look at properties being sold by the owner, and don’t bring them into the process when it’s time to negotiate the contract unless you are prepared to pay their commission through a higher sale price or out of your own pocket. You might risk losing the opportunity to purchase the house.

5. If you find the house you want before you sell your property, and the seller is reluctant to sign a contract with the contingency that you sell your home first, you may draw up a contract that allows the seller to continue marketing and advertising the property, yet gives you the “right of first refusal” should they receive another offer. You will be notified immediately if the seller has another offer, and you will have another opportunity to purchase.

6. Remember that if you sell your home before finding another, you will be legally bound to sell once the contract is signed. So if necessary, include a provision making the contract contingent on finding suitable housing. Otherwise you may find it necessary to find a house under pressure or rent housing after the closing.

7. It is important to be respectful to the sellers when presenting an offer. Don’t criticize the property in the hope of reducing the price. You may insult the sellers, who may decide not to accept your offer or even make a counteroffer.

8. If you feel the property is overpriced but the seller won’t budge, make your offer contingent on the property appraising for the selling price or higher.

9. Include a walk-through inspection of the property as a contingency shortly before the closing. At that time the sellers’ furniture is apt to be removed, making it easier to discover defects that might have been obscured by wall coverings, etc. This will also enable you to determine whether repairs agreed to be done by seller have in fact been performed. It is easier to request compensation for necessary work before the house is sold than afterwards.

10. A property disclosure statement is required to be furnished to you within three days after the final contract is signed. However, you may ask the sellers to provide you with the statement before you make on offer. Remember that if you list your property with an agent, it is still you who are required to be truthful in reporting the condition of the property. It is recommended that any major deficiencies in the home be reported to the buyer regardless of the form required to be used.

11. Your offer should expire within a few days, or less, so the seller will not have time to “shop the bid” among other interested parties, or to accept another offer. Don’t make the offer expire at midnight unless you plan to be awake at that time, as the response may come in at or just before that deadline.

12. It is generally desirable to make your offer contingent on the property passing a professional home inspection. This is also an excellent way to learn what is required to maintain your future home. We will be glad to refer you to home inspectors who can assist you.

13. Put everything in writing. What is included, and what is excluded, and what contingencies must be satisfied before you are obligated to purchase. These and all other conditions and details of the sell should be spelled out in your contract.

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