Should You Try to "Steal A Home"?

Many times buyers will tell me that they only want to buy a home if it is a deal.  It seems unless the home is so undervalued in terms of price, they don’t want to consider it.  This strategy I believe can make sense if the purchase of the property is for investment purposes.  Then price and other financial considerations would have significant weight.  However, if one is purchasing a home to live in, then I don’t necessarily think that “stealing a home” should necessarily be the highest priority.

First, a home is shelter, a place to live first and foremost.   A home is bottom line not an investment vehicle.  It can be, but it is not the primary purpose. Stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit are investment vehicles and not considering the return on investment would be illogical.  A purchaser should buy a home to live in because that is where the buyer wants to live.  Thus to consider a home only based on can it be bought by getting a steal doesn’t make sense to me.  Do you want to live in a “steal” or a home?

Second, if a home can be bought for a “steal” then that probably means other potential buyers have rejected it as a place they want to live in.  If others in the marketplace don’t want to live in the home except for a very low price, then there could very well be fundamental flaws in the property or location.

 
A home is where you, family and friends are going to be spending the majority of your time.   Wouldn’t you want to live in a home that you like?  Wouldn’t you be willing to pay a market price for somewhere you like?

 
A car that is cheaply priced often turns out to be a lemon.  The expenses associated with owning a “lemon” often begin to outweigh any savings at the outset of the purchase.   A home that is cheaply priced probably has issues as well.  The old axiom “something that is too good to be true, probably is” became a well-known saying because there is a lot of truth in it.

I firmly believe that a Purchaser should not overpay for the current market conditions.  There is a certain goodwill that occurs when a sale is a win-win for the Purchaser and the Seller.  A win-win occurs in my view when the Purchaser buys at a fair market price and the Seller receives a fair market price.

Karen Briscoe and Lizzy Conroy are active and experienced Realtors® in the Northern Virginia, Washington DC market place and would be delighted to assist with home buying and/or selling.  The Huckaby Briscoe Group of Keller Williams Realty was recognized as one of the Wall Street Journal Top Real Estate Teams in the United States.  Please contact via the means most convenient for you:  www.HBCRealtyGroup.com, 703-734-0192, Homes@HBCRealtyGroup.com.