Wednesday, March 4, 2015

How A Home Inspection Can Lower The Purchase Price Of Your Dream Home in Lakewood

 

HS01P019This involves having a trained professional go in and evaluate the structure of the building according to a wide variety of criteria which includes safety and structural issues, as well as potential water damage, plumbing, electrical issues, and even minor issues that can affect the value of a property.

What Are Some Of The Potential Problems?

Home inspections can make you aware of any potentially dangerous, or life threatening issues that might exist. Bad wiring can lead to fires, rotting walls can lead to collapses, and decaying floors can turn into sink holes that can physically harm your family.

There are also more subtle problems such as the presence of mold, which can be less dangerous immediately, but which can cause long-term health problems for you and your family. All of these factors are important for determining whether it is a good and safe idea to purchase a particular house.

At the same time they can also be used as a negotiating tool in order to try and drive down the price of your dream home. Every problem that turns up and every potential issue that is uncovered is another bargaining chip that can be put in to play to try and achieve more favorable terms with the seller.

Any contract that is signed between a seller and buyer should include an inspection contingency, allowing for negotiations to take place if problems are discovered after the process has started. This will allow the buyer to either ask that the issues be repaired, or alternatively receive a credit so that they can undertake that work themselves. In some cases they will agree on a combination of those two possibilities.

Sometimes buyers think that the home is inspected by the termite company or by the appraiser; neither is true. The termite company is only paid to check termite and dry rot. The appraiser is checking general sales in the area and looks at the home for livability. The appraiser is visiting the home for less then 30 minutes. When you are purchasing a home in the Lakewood area the inspector will look under the home and in the attic. A general inspection usually takes a minimum of two hours.

Negotiating Price

One thing that is important to keep in mind when you go into any negotiation over the price of a home is the psychology of the person on the other side of the table. The seller doesn’t want to have to drive down the price, or pay for costly repairs that can eat up even more of their profit margin. But the buyer wants to make sure that they aren’t being taken advantage of either. In other words, both parties want to ‘win’ the negotiation.

Understanding this fact will make it easier for you to come to an amicable arrangement when trying to work a price down due to inspection issues. Sometimes instead of doing the repairs the buyer can ask for a price reduction or money towards repairs.

A good Realtor can guide you through the process of how to do this type of request. Remember in the Lakewood and Long Beach area, 90% of the homes are over 50 years old with some items like ungrounded outlets being very common while other items like leaks under the home should definitely be called out and therefore repaired.

For more information on how to turn a home inspection into a "win-win" ... please give me a call,  I would love the opportunity to speak with you!

My Direct Phone is 562-882-1581

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Fabulous home with lots of room!

P1030394

 

This home is perfect for the growing family.

Four big bedrooms, two downstairs and two upstairs.  Large living room in the front of the home and spacious family room with fireplace in the rear.

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Open and airy kitchen with formal dining room

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Newer dual pane windows, central air and heat, newer roof, copper plumbing and fresh exterior paint.

Backyard oasis with patio and cabana area.

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Two car garage and a long driveway perfect for R.V parking. Floor plans show main floor level and upstairs.

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Great circle area with only three entrances. Ridgewood Heights area of Bixby.

For more information on this home, please call 562-882-1581 or email Allison@SuperBroker.com