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Browsing Category Buyers
I Might Move to Charlottesville – What Should I see on my Exploratory Visit?
I need to budget time in my day to walk through here. A photo posted by Jim Duncan (@jimduncan) on Sep 8, 2015 at 5:58am PDT What should we visit to see if Charlottesville is...
Visit a Wegmans before Buying a House in Charlottesville
Just a suggestion – if you’re considering buying a house in the Charlottesville area in the next 18 months, visit a Wegmans first. Apparently Wegmans is the best thing since sliced bread, and I’ve found…
Some Good Questions Buyers Should be Asking
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Questions Buyers Should be Asking. This year, Reddit provides another great discussion that should be required reading for buyers – What is something you wish you’d checked…
6 Reasons to Buy a Home in Charlottesville in 2015
I can’t recall ever telling buyer clients that “now is the best time for you to buy a home!” But I have often counseled clients through the evaluative process of whether now could be the…
Top 3 Mistakes Home Buyers Make
I’ve seen a lot of mistakes. I’ve made a lot, and I’ve guided a lot of my clients away from making mistakes.
A few common mistakes A few common mistakes made by homebuyers (there are a lot more than 3!)
- Not knowing what your comfortable price range is. Sometimes it’s lower, sometimes it’s higher than you expect, but knowing your comfortable price range is critical.
- Not knowing the context of the house you’re considering. There’s way more to a house than the four corners of the property. (what are your triangles?) The house matters, but so does the neighborhood. And the road leading to the neighborhood. And the development that’s possibly coming down the road that will affect the roads leading to your neighborhood and home.
- Not reading Charlottesville Tomorrow. See 2.
- Not considering resale value. See 2 as well.
- Trying to negotiate directly with unrepresented sellers*. Buffers matter. I’ve represented buyers buying homes from unrepresented sellers, and I’ve made the mistake myself of buying a home from an unrepresented seller. Emotions are powerful things, and they cloud judgement.
- Not factoring in costs of utilities and committing. (I’m seeing this mistake far less often than I did five years ago)
- Working with the wrong agent – not all agents practice equally, and not all agents and buyers are good fits.
- Not asking questions. There are a lot of questions that buyers should be asking; I try to help my buyers ask better questions.
Have a question? I’m here. 434-242-7140 or jim@realcentralva.com
5 Buyers Building 5 Homes in Charlottesville
As 2015 starts, I’m representing five buyers who are building four houses with four different builders, with each house currently at different stages of construction, ranging from not-yet-fully-designed to just under roof and dry.