ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to all purchases is your due diligence, your duty to yourself
to thoroughly assess your investment to be. INSPECT AND VERIFY all possible
aspects and representations of the property. Visit the Planning, Building and
Environmental Health Departments of your County Offices and pull, copy and study
any files on the property you are planning on buying. BE CERTAIN YOU HAVE RECEIVED
ALL REQUIRED DISCLOSURES ABOUT THE PROPERTY AND UNDERSTAND THEM BEFORE SIGNING
AND RETURNING THEM TO AGENTS AND SELLER.
1. Examine your motivation to buy.
2. Do as much groundwork and investigation of the property as possible yourself. Get market stats and sales records for the
general area you are considering buying in so you know how things (prices, conditions, list to selling price ratios) stack up in
your neighborhood.
Allow yourself room to move inside your contract; ideally all points of negotiation are settled before both you and a seller sign
your final agreement AND there will be many small issues that will arise inside of your transaction that you may need
assistance with from the seller. Beware the seller that makes no concessions and will not compromise in common sense and
fair ways.
3. Trust your own opinions and feelings about the buying process, the property, and the people you are working with.
4. Seek counsel from qualified real estate professionals and inspectors; evaluate advice carefully. Take any opinion with a
grain of salt; everyone has his or her own agenda. We all (people and professionals - ideally of the same species) make
mistakes and can miss details; it is crucial that you ask all and any questions that you have no matter how small or stupid you
may think the question may be. Do not be afraid to point out details that you think someone in your employ may have missed
and ask about them. Remember that the professionals are still (hopefully) learning, too.
5. Obtain seller financing whenever possible; you'll probably save a fortune.
Shop for rates. Work with local vendors and lenders if you can; they'll save
you so much grief and help keep "the love" in your community
6. Think of the long term, short term, big and little "picture."
7. Visualize perfection having brfiefly considered failure (not getting the
property you want or getting it and then finding out that it's just not going
to work for you; worst-case-scenario exploration), then create your success.
8. Talk with the neighbors, take your time, work with people around whom you're comfortable.
9. Have fun.
10. Expect the unexpected.
11. I cannot stress this enough: Heighten your awareness of all that goes on
around you. Are your neighbors spraying pesticides near your well? Are the deer
still going to be able to pass through your yard? Please consider your impacts
on smaller creatures - underfoot, unseen, flying, swimming, crawling, jumping,
chirping, sliding; trying to make a living just like you and me - where you
will (ideally) live in harmony with your world. Just imagine no birds and no
bees... Where would we be then?
Consider (your) resources, population growth, local, regional, and global trends.
12. Be prepared to take risks.
13. Remember: you are only in control of yourself - or not - and there are many conditions and circumstances in the buying
process completely out of your control; accept these and sleep better.
14. Create and maintain goodwill.
15. Ask lots of questions.
16. Choose your service providers carefully.
17. Find all the boundaries and corner markers of your property, crawl around under the house, move stuff away from the
walls, notice details; open every door, window, cupboard, attic, cabinet and look inside carefully. Turn on every switch,
check every electrical outlet.
18. Specify in writing exactly what personal property is included with your purchase and make sure that it's there before you
close your transaction.
19. Encourage the seller or an agent to purchase a home warranty for you; it will save everybody involved in the sale much
worry.
20. Examine all documents very carefully and be sure that language cannot be interpreted to your disadvantage.
21. Do what you agree to do; act according to the terms of your contract. Similarly, pay very close attention to what people
say and even closer attention to the written word; fortunately or unfortunately in the state of California spoken words do not
hold water when it comes to real estate transactions.
22. Stay on the ball; remember your goals.
23. Be prepared to walk away from any transaction and move on to the next (and probably better) opportunity.
23. Avoid hostility. There is absolutely no reason for you
or anyone to accept rudeness or abuse. You want to do business
in a positive environment; negative and hostile clients are
often litigious (meaning they will sue you if they can) and
will bring you more grief than anyone deserves. There may be
life lessons in witnessing or receiving vituperative behavior
- but hey! Do you like it?
24. Ask for references.
25. Work to obtain and bind insurance coverage on your prospective purchase as soon as possible.
26. Be patient - and firm.
27. Celebrate your successes!
28. When you buy a property that has tenants that need to move out before you move in, make sure that your contract calls
for the tenants' possession of the property to be terminated before the seller gets paid and your transaction closes.
29. Contact Best Real Estate Services for advice.
30. Listen, listen, LISTEN.... Pay close attention to all of what you hear... Actually, pay close attention to all of your sensory
input from property, people, papers and professionals... Does the property smell good? What is that sound? what are those
pipes sticking out of the ground? Why is it always windy here? Verify what? Trust me? Trust yourself.
31. Send me an email about what you think Buyers need to know.
EMAIL: best@mcn.org
