A few Home-Buying Fast Facts

Knowledge is the key to making your home buying (or home selling) experience successful. The more you know, the more prepared you'll be. But that doesn't mean you need to understand every intricacy of the real estate market. It does, however, mean that you should at least be aware of the process. Here are a few quick-hitting facts that should keep you on your toes.

Always remember, everything is negotiable. From the price you pay for the house to the date that you want to move in, everything can be bent, bartered or bargained. When you make an offer, you can and should ask for whatever you want. That doesn't automatically mean that you'll get it, but it's a starting point.

Everything varies. You'll find that there really aren't very many tried and trusted facts about the home-buying and home-selling processes. Every buyer's and seller's experiences are going to vary widely. One person may sell his house in the first month that it's on the market; another may have to wait for six months. Everything will differ according to your situation and desires.

Things continually change. Tax laws, real estate laws and real estate practices are fluid, changing and evolving all the time.

There's no absolutely perfect time to buy. Some buyers wait and wait until they think the market is perfect, or until they find the house they've always wanted, or until they can afford the house that they've always wanted. Unless you have a compelling reason to wait, you probably shouldn't. The perfect market, the perfect house, or the perfect price may never come along. So, buy what you can afford and then trade up later.

Don't fall for the 'no-money-down' deal. Even in today's deflated real estate market, you may come across advertisements offering you the opportunity to buy a house with no money down. Be wary. Most too-good-to-be-true deals are. You can certainly find a good deal, but make skepticism a habit in this area. It could save you time and money.

Exercise 'win-win' negotiating. Many people are under the impression that a successful deal happens only when they impose their will on the other party and get their way entirely (a win-lose situation). But, the best deals occur when both sides come out of the transaction happy. If you buy a house at the price you want and the terms you want, and the sellers also get the price they want at acceptable terms, then you both benefit.

Expect the 'redecorating cycle.' The only thing you can really do is to just know that it's coming. When you move into your new house, you'll probably discover that the couch doesn't match well with the carpet in the living room. So, you install new carpet, only to notice that the recliner suddenly looks shabby, and you decide you're going to need a new one. Well, since you're getting a recliner, you might as well snag a new coffee table to go along with it, which brings you full circle back to – you guessed it! – the couch, which now just doesn't seem to fit in with your brand new living room. Of course, after you finish with all this, the dining room is beginning to look a little dated. And on and on…home, sweet home.