First home buyer, here. A lot of people told me it can be a pretty emotional time as you search for a new home, find the one you want and then try to negotiate a fair price. As usual, I brushed off the warning because I perceive myself as pretty level-headed. Ha.
So, it turns out that I have spent a lot of energy identifying what my husband and I want in a home (beyond number of rooms), finding like properties and then trying to work out a fair price. I've learned heaps in the process such as:
- Start with a low offer to give yourself room to 'concede' to a higher offer or more favourable settlement terms. This makes the vendor feel less under the thumb.
- Real Estate Agents are in it for business and that's all - even my good friends.
- Pounce on a good opportunity, but don't rush through a deal because you want something now.
- Be willing to make trade-offs if needed. Ex: I have found many houses in my price range are either on large blocks but need renovations, or they don't need renovations but are on small blocks. I had to work out what was more important and if I needed to think about increasing my shopping budget.
- Speak in general terms with Real Estate Agents about your budget.
We recently put an offer on a home and then withdrew because we were being pressured to pay more than we wanted to. Now I'm just at a point where I feel like I've done all I can do and I'm just waiting on the Divine! There seemed to be heaps of good houses earlier in the year! Now I can't find one I like. I've wanted to spend time in prayer about it to try to get a higher perspective and notice a good opportunity when one comes along but I just can't commit to this prayer. I don't feel that my deity is very interested in whether I own my own home or not. In fact, I feel a distinct lack of interest in my finances at all beyond reducing wastefulness.
To those who have enlisted in divine help when going through the process of buying your first home, which deity did you pray to and what were your prayers? If you decided not to involve a deity, why so?
So, it turns out that I have spent a lot of energy identifying what my husband and I want in a home (beyond number of rooms), finding like properties and then trying to work out a fair price. I've learned heaps in the process such as:
- Start with a low offer to give yourself room to 'concede' to a higher offer or more favourable settlement terms. This makes the vendor feel less under the thumb.
- Real Estate Agents are in it for business and that's all - even my good friends.
- Pounce on a good opportunity, but don't rush through a deal because you want something now.
- Be willing to make trade-offs if needed. Ex: I have found many houses in my price range are either on large blocks but need renovations, or they don't need renovations but are on small blocks. I had to work out what was more important and if I needed to think about increasing my shopping budget.
- Speak in general terms with Real Estate Agents about your budget.
We recently put an offer on a home and then withdrew because we were being pressured to pay more than we wanted to. Now I'm just at a point where I feel like I've done all I can do and I'm just waiting on the Divine! There seemed to be heaps of good houses earlier in the year! Now I can't find one I like. I've wanted to spend time in prayer about it to try to get a higher perspective and notice a good opportunity when one comes along but I just can't commit to this prayer. I don't feel that my deity is very interested in whether I own my own home or not. In fact, I feel a distinct lack of interest in my finances at all beyond reducing wastefulness.
To those who have enlisted in divine help when going through the process of buying your first home, which deity did you pray to and what were your prayers? If you decided not to involve a deity, why so?
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