Long Beach Home and Condo Buyer Tips

It has been a rough year in the real estate business. Many would be first-time home buyers have had to come to terms with staying in rent for a while. Some have been able to purchase despite the sub-prime problems and the more recent loan situation. Many buyers who have been holding off, waiting for prices to come down, are out shopping now.

An uninformed local agent actually told me yesterday that 100% financing was no longer available and that buyers would need 20% down. I was appalled at such WRONG information being passed out as the truth.

It is still possible to purchase and 100% financing is still available, as Brian Brady will tell you in his most recent Long Beach mortgage rate report. With that in mind lets discuss buying a Long Beach Home or Condo in today's market. The one thing all buyers have in common, in today's market, is everybody wants 'a deal'. OK, do you recognize 'a deal' when you see one? With so much inventory on the market and prices all over the place, it is enough to make a buyers head spin.

Many sellers are sitting on the market with Long Beach homes and condos which were priced fairly when they went on the market, but are now overpriced. Prices have dropped, some sellers have not adjusted their prices accordingly and are busy 'chasing the market down'. However, some have reduced their prices - as painful as it was for them, many drastically. The variations in pricing for like properties pose a perplexing dilemma to today's buyer.

• Why, they ask, is there such wide variation in the prices?
  
• How do I know what the market value really is?
  
• How will I recognize a 'deal'?
  
• How do I know if a property is overpriced?
  
• How do I know what a fair offer is?
  
• What can I ask a seller for, within reason?
  

When a buyer locates a property they want to write an offer on, their Realtor® will provide comparable sales in the local area.

Comparable sales should be:

• Like property.
  
• Nearby the property.
• Not in an area that is traditionally higher or lower priced than the property in question.
• Close in square footage, for the property and the lot, (usually within 100 sq ft in either direction)
  
• Close in condition.
• Reasonably close in age, as the subject property.

If the last similar home sold for $370,000 and the property you are considering is priced at $330,000, that is a $40,000 price reduction. If the property is similar enough in square footage, location, condition and age, this is a very good buy. Go ahead and offer listing price, ask for closing costs (up to 3% of sale price) or a year or two of prepaid HOA dues, or a few months mortgage payments-prepaid, etc..., if it is accepted, folks 'that's a deal'!

If the last similar home sold for $370,000 and the property you are considering is priced at $385,000, go ahead and write what you feel is a fair offer for today's market. Either the seller will counter you, accept your offer or get completely insulted and tell you to go away. However the seller decides to handle your offer, isn't based on you or your offer, it is based on the seller's perception of the market and the value of their property. The sellers decision will either keep negotiations open, or inform you that you have an unreasonable seller and it is time to move on.

My point here is, if you do not write the offer, you will never know if the seller is willing to negotiate.

Go ahead and shop the market, shop a little over what you want to spend, if the properties are overpriced and you find what you like, go ahead and drop that lowball offer. You never know, it may get accepted or countered.

The New York Lottery had a great saying years ago, I don't know if they still use it: "Ya gotta be in it to win it!"

Laurie Manny

(562) 212-5420

(714) 376-9550

Long Beach CA Real Estate