Tips and to dos before you buy a newly constructed house

Buying a newly constructed house or pre-construction house is really exciting and enticing that most of the people are willing to just jump into signing the contract right away. Doing this will mostly lead to disappointments, unexpected and unanticipated costs, worst may lead to termination of the agreement and legal issues. So if you are a buyer looking to buy a newly constructed house or pre-construction house, do yourself favor and read the following tips and to dos before you sign the agreement for you dream house.

 

Get a Real Estate Agent

– hire a Real Estate professional who has experience in new construction properties and has no ties to the builder/seller. You need this person to represent you and your best interest as buyer throughout the transaction. This agent will help you draft the best offer you can give the builder/seller; legal confidante and helps you understand the clauses, fine prints and everything on the contract to ensure that all your rights as buyer are well taken care of.

 

 

Research

 

– About the builder, the surrounding area and neighborhood. Research on testimonials, feedback online about the builder/seller, at least you have a pretty good idea on how they take care of their customers, bear in mind that you will get feedback from customers, so it will be a mix of satisfied and unsatisfied customers. For you to be able to use them wisely, any concerns or not so good feedback, make sure cover it on your purchase agreement. About the surrounding area and neighborhood, you may want to know any planned development on the surrounding area, any traffic planning, development of neighborhood parcel, new establishments, etc.

Everything should be in writing

– make sure that everything you have talked about and agreed upon are in writing. Don’t sign the contract immediately, make sure you read all the fine prints, clauses, ask for your agent’s help in making sure that all the agreements, concessions, contingencies, dates, timelines are clearly stated on the contract to ensure that you will not have any issues throughout and after the sales transaction. It is better to be sure than sorry.

 

Know what is included and what isn’t

 

– Most of the finished homes or model houses looks picture perfect and it definitely adds to the excitement of the buyer quickly jump into the deal. Just always have in mind that what you see there doesn’t mean that’s what you are going to get when you get the deal since model houses are a mix of standard materials and fixtures as well as upgrades and add-ons so don’t get too excited to sign the deal and be disappointed later on. Ask the builder what are the things included on the deal, the standard inclusions as well as the upgrades and add-ons so if you really want your home to be just like that, and you will not be surprise of the additional costs.

Also for home warranty, make sure you have a very clear agreement and understanding on what is covered and what isn’t, time of coverage and who to contact once you need assistance on the warranty. It is better to know and be fully aware of all these now for your own protection.

 

Get a Home Inspection

– Not because it is a newly constructed house, means it doesn’t need a home inspection. Remember you and your family will be living inside this house so you need to have the peace of mind that everything will be safe for you and your family not just now but in the long run. Hire a professional who will be able to inspect the house, the quality of materials used as well as check for potential future issues, at least as early as now, you may need to request for repairs if need be.

Doing the list above just saved you a lot of future headaches and money. Just like in everything else in life, don’t be overly excited to do things that you overlook the details, make sure that you think about it, plan head and always make sure that it is worth your time and effort. It is not just another investment, or project it is your home that we are talking about so you may want to get your hard earned money’s worth. I believe you are now equipped and ready to get into the deal for your new home! 🙂

Listing Photos Matter

Photos have very essential role in marketing and advertising products or services. It is a means of targeting the people’s interest in getting to know more about your product, making them curious about it, getting your fancy to buy it. It is your visual weapon in making the market feel your product or services exist. But not using its full potential can also do your business more harm than good. It can be a double edge sword if your photos do not reflect the kind of product you want your market to see, so be careful and make sure that you use photos to your advantage.

We live in an era of digital world, everything is fast paced and digital even selling and marketing products, this include house in the real estate industry. Unlike before if you want to do house hunting, potential buyers would really invest time in dropping by and personally checking out the property but due to time constraints, most of the buyers now would go house hunting online and would just give efforts in checking the property further once it is in their short list or already got their interest and their fancy.

How do we capture their fancy… through your Listing Photos!

By having great photos of the property, you are making your online presence in digital marketing. Potential buyers will be able to see the property, highlight the best part of the house, and even see detailed designs and the condition of each part of the house without exerting much time and effort in the early stage of house hunting.

Great photos will give you competitive edge on the property you are selling; it will attract and get the interest of more potential buyers. Getting the buyers’ interest in checking out the property is something that your photos can do, once they check on the photos, buyers would know if they would want to know more about the property or not. Furthermore it will create traffic to your websites, or hype on your advertised property whether they are potential buyers or not, it help on your marketing strategy.

Here’s one story of how listing photos affected the period of time the property was on the market.

The property was on the market for eight months and when a real estate photographer Harry Lim re-photographed the property it was sold in eight days. Same house, same rooms and furniture but notice the difference on the photos.  Check this link and be amazed on how the photos made the difference: https://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelwmiller/these-photos-show-just-how-much-real-estate-photography-matt?utm_term=.hrOk76elN#

See how it made the difference; imagine being in the market for several months and being sold in just couple of days is one of the major effects of photos on marketing this property. So let’s make sure that we are on top of our game in using photos as our main marketing weapon, use the best photos of the house, proper lighting, good angle, great gears, get professional help if you must since it is really a good investment in showing the world the best photographs of your property.

 

Enjoy the benefits of home warranty

A home warranty is a contract that covers costly home repairs and replacements due to normal wear and tear usually for a period of one year. The price and its coverage widely vary so homeowners should make sure that they choose the home warranty that fits their needs.

Home warranties cover your basic home system and appliances, repairs and replacements of these systems/appliances are covered given that they are working properly when you get into the contract and also given that the reason for the breakdown is wear and tear.

Home warranty companies give a variety of Home warranty plans, prices and even add-on options so it is best that you truly understands the coverage and all the clauses in the contract so you will be able to get your money’s worth and maximize the benefits of home warranty.

 

Here’s a list of some benefits of home warranty.

Peace of mind

– You can relax, be stress free and just gain peace of mind knowing that once the unexpected happens like break down of your systems or appliance, you got it covered. It is like an investment that you made to ensure that your home will have a well-functioning system and appliance every time.

For example, your air conditioning just suddenly stop and needs replacement, your home warranty vendor company will be happy to replace it for you as long as it is part of the coverage plan of your home warranty. Just call them and they will be the ones to ensure that you will have a new functioning air conditioning on your home in no time. Isn’t that amazing?

 

Save Save Save!

– Time, Energy and Money.

Save time and energy, in case you need repairs or replacements, no need to search for companies who will do it for you. Just call your home warranty company and they will fix or replace it in no time as long as it is covered in your contract.

Money – instead of you shelling out a huge amount of money on repairs, worse on replacements. you will not even need to give a dime, your appliance or home system will be fix or repairs with no cost so long as it is part of the coverage plan. No unexpected repair or replacements cost, no hassle on your budget. 🙂

 

Attracts more buyers

– If you’re selling your home, it attracts more buyers since they will be able to have  peace of mind if something bad went wrong on the home system or any appliance, there is no need to worry since it it covered of the warranty contract. It adds value to the home you are selling.

Avoid Delays in selling your home

– selling your home turnaround time varies, sometimes it’s fast but there are times that it is slow too. That is just for the listing time, you also need to consider the time the selling process itself, 15, 30 45 days, depends. But let’s say that during that period something went wrong… something broke down and it will definitely cause delay and hassles in the entire transaction but if you have home warranty, it will be just a call away from your vendor company and they will take care of the situation in no time so long as it is covered in your contract.

I have written down “…as long as it is covered in your contract.” several times already, that is because it want to reiterate its importance. Make sure that you know and understand the contract, what is covered, what is not. It will save all the parties involved a lot of hassle and you will be able to maximize the very reason why you get the home warranty, to gain peace of mind and save time, energy and money once that unexpected happens.

The Heart of Customer Service

What is Customer Service?

” Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees “who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest”.Customer service is also often referred to when describing the culture of the organization. It concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization, or may proactively interview customers for feedback.” – Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service)

For me, customer service is when you provide your customer the best experience they can get from a product or service they have paid for. Everyone has a fair share of experiences being a customer, we all have expectations from the product itself and more from the people who provided you the product or services.We can all agree that customer service is part of our day to day lives, not just the ones in big corporations, so regardless of who you are, professional or not, employee, employer or self employed, we all should have a fair understanding of customer service.

 

My philosophy on it is that, we need to give them their money’s worth, or even exceed them through a great experience that can get through our products or services.
This can be a simple smile while you serve their food, your sense of urgency and punctuality, you being the knowledgeable and expert about the product or your company’s processes and procedures. How you listen to what they want and know what they need. How you explain things in a manner that they will understand. How you make them feel that you care and you are working towards a resolution of any issues or concerns.

In my years of experience being in the call center industry where great customer service skills is a must. It helped me hone and understand customers better. Yes not all customers are soft spoken and nice but what I always have in mind is that I will treat them the way that I wanted to be treated given their situation.
Plus you have to be sincere, patient and real in what you are saying and doing because one way or another they will know if you are just faking it.

Customer service is the part of the any business that adds our personal touch in it, our human side. It is not just a mere transaction, it is an experience interacting with a fellow human being and it will really pay off if it was a worthwhile one both on the business side and personal side. This can make or break you and your business since you are dealing with people, loyalty, recommendation and word of mouth are very crucial to any business in this social media age.

Just like what they golden rule says “Do unto others, what you want others do unto you”. You want good business, then give great customer service experience to all your customers and in no time, you’ll see the fruits of it.

Building Connections

Getting your money’s worth is always what’s in our mind when paying for something. That’s why great customer service is a necessity in any business, more so in real estate.

When clients hire agents for their services may it be as a buyer’s agent or as a seller’s agent they expect the best service that they can get. Aside from just doing your job and getting the deal done, they expect great customer service through the way you deal with them, how you educate them, how you patiently explain to them the process and why you gave such advises and how they listened to what they want and know what they need. In return they will be pleased and satisfied with the services you gave them. You are able to build certain bond or connection with them that may lead to a long term relationship. They will provide good feedback about you and will refer you to their friends and families. Thus, this will help you widen your network and make more connections that will be good for your business. More people will trust you and will bring business to you.

On the other hand if there are bad feedback about you as an agent, and how you treat your customers it can ruin your reputation that will definitely affect your business in a bad way. Mainly the customer service you provide your clients can make or break you as an agent and your business in real estate.