Be Prepared and You’ll Get Your Dream Home. Do Nothing and You’ll Get Nothing!

Be Prepared and You’ll Get Your Dream Home. Do Nothing and You’ll Get Nothing!

From the Sarasota Suncoast Team of Keller Williams Realty Sarasota Lakewood Ranch http://www.sarasotasuncoasthomes.com

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When it comes to shopping for a home in the Sarasota, FL or in Bradenton, FL real estate markets, it’s amazing how so many buyers do their best to fight the professional advice of their Florida Realtor. Sensible people that normally take the advice of their doctor, their attorney, their local garden center person, or even their baby sitter, somehow get it in their mind that their full time, professional Realtor is not someone they should trust for local market knowledge and expertise.

It is a regular theme at real estate offices across America, and it’s a particularly difficult issue here in Sarasota, FL where many people have out dated notions that the Sarasota real estate market is a buyer’s paradise, where short sales and foreclosures can be had for $0.50 on the $1.00. Ah, those were the days and they’re long gone.

Those days and deals crept away in 2011. This is 2013. “The Golden Age of Real Estate” where sellers are in control of the market.  Buying a home in Sarasota, FL today requires a buyer to pay close attention to their Realtor and to take their advice like a Sherpa on a mountain expedition. It’s the only way to conquer the market of the moment. Buyers that don’t do their homework, and don’t follow their Realtor’s advice, will likely end up missing out on their dream home.  

So how does the buyer lose the dream home?                 

An agent sits down to discuss their buyer’s wants and needs. The agent goes over the process of buying a home and naturally through the process, the agent asks the buyers for their pre-approval letter. The buyer insists they have their finances all taken care of, so the agent (against the agent’s own better judgment) takes the buyer out to see some homes. Next thing you know, the buyer is led into their dream home!

The buyer starts to wiggle and move and get more excited than a kid heading to Disney for the first time. The experienced agent knows this is the one and asks, “So, Mr.  & Mrs. Buyer can you see yourself living here?” “Yes!” they say. “Would you like to make an offer?” “YES! It’s perfect!” “Great! Let’s go back to my office and prepare the paperwork. I’ll just need a few things from you and the pre-approval letter you said you have.” Suddenly they get quiet, “Oh the pre-approval letter…well we need to square that away with the bank, but it won’t be a problem.”

Often times it is a huge, stop the car, I told you so, kind of problem! Especially in the Sarasota, FL real estate market where the seller is king of the sand hill and buyers are fighting each other to get on top. Not getting pre-approval and believing it’s not going to be an issue, often equates to Mr. & Mrs. Buyer losing out on their dream home.  We see it day after day, with unprepared buyers going out with an agent that’s willing to show them homes in advance of seeing their pre-approval letter. They go out, find a home and still believe they have ample time to prepare to buy a home; then they end up missing out on their dream home. They are shocked to learn they were beat to it or out bid by one of three other buyers that were prepared and competing for the same home.

Buyers need to talk AND listen to their Realtor.

If a Realtor suggests to a buyer that; 1) they should save for a large down payment, and 2) they should save three months or more of living expense in case of an emergency, and 3) they need to get their bank to do a full pre-approval for them before going house hunting, they will be much more successful in buying their dream home.