Home Buyer Negotiating Power – You Have It

One of the most interesting phenomena I have experienced with home buyers is that, almost across the board, they assume they possess limited negotiating power. Buyers generally assume that the seller has the property and the bank has the money so they must have all the power, right? Nope.

Buyers enjoy a substantial amount of power in both home-price negotiations and mortgage negotiations. But they never believe they do. Let’s examine negotiating the price of your home. Buyers assume that sellers have multiple qualified prospects considering their home. Crafty real estate listing agents lead buyers to believe that if they don’t move on this home in the next couple of hours, they could lose it. And because of all this “interest,” the seller certainly won’t consider anything less than the full asking price.

In my experience, there are very few hot markets in which sellers have their pick of several pre-approved buyers who are prepared to close. I live in Baton Rouge, a city that was flooded with several hundred thousand people after Hurricane Katrina. At the time, Baton Rouge was such a hot market. But barring a catastrophic event that sends hundreds of thousands to your town looking for housing, almost no market is that hot.

If you are a pre-approved buyer that will be purchasing in the next few weeks, you are gold to the seller of a property. Most “interested” buyers are what we in real estate call “tire kickers.” These are buyers that have the inclination that they might buy in the next six months or ten years and decide to start looking. They don’t have their current home for sale, have not talked to a bank to see if they can afford the house, and are simply trying to get an idea of what’s out there. You on the other hand, have gotten a bank to agree to lend you money for a house, you have determined the neighborhoods you want to live in, and have a list of other houses you are considering. The seller will be thinking, “We better not let this one get away, because then we have to start all over doing open houses every weekend.” This situation affords you as a buyer substantial negotiating power.

Make sure the seller and seller’s agent know you are pre-approved by a bank and that you will be buying in the next couple of weeks. Let them know you have several attractive options you are considering and have to be able to get the home at a price you consider to be fair. Spend some time with the seller and agent going thorough the house and ask a lot of questions. There is a rule in negotiation that sellers become more negotiable in relation to the time they spend with a buyer.

Now, consider the facts. The seller has to sell their house to move on with their life. A house is not an easy item to convert to cash quickly. You have cash (or the promise of cash from the bank), and you are going to be making a decision among multiple attractive options in the next couple of weeks. Make sure the seller and seller’s agent know these facts, and watch the perception of power shift in your favor.

Debt Counseling Presents A Systematic Method Of Clearing Debt Load

It was my wife who first introduced me to debt counseling and I thought it would be just another agony uncle whom I would have to deal with. However, it was not late that I was proved wrong. It was through debt counseling that I survived the deadly debts to recount its benefits.

Debt counseling is the advice offered through experts on several debt related issues. Debt counseling has a two-pronged strategy. While the advice focuses on ways to counter the current debt load, the borrower will also be informed of methods to prevent debts from originating. Thus, debt counseling plays defensive as well as a preventive role.

The defensive strategy will be employed for situations where the debt load is sufficiently large. In my case, the debt load was substantially large. My personal savings and monthly income would have lessened the burden a little. But, there were other expenses too that needed to be paid through the same limited income. By channeling my income towards debt settlement, I would only have paved way for newer debts.

Debt counseling showed the way out. Large number of people in the UK owe their freedom from debts to debt counseling. In fact, the very first lesson that I learnt from debt counseling is that I was not the only person who had debts. There were many others who have even messier finances. The statistics are really appalling. How come so many people, belonging to so rich a country as the UK, be so vulnerable to debts? However, people do incur debts. A desire to have almost every material comforts, often pushes people to spend rashly. On most occasions, the expenditure is without any consideration for the sources of payment.

However, as the pressure of the creditors mounts, the very first priority of debt counseling will be to design a way out for the debtors. Presently, there are a number of debt elimination options available in the UK, namely debt consolidation loans, debt consolidation mortgages, debt consolidation through remortgage, home equity loans and credit cards. Each option has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and it will be really difficult to make a choice for one of these. Through debt counseling, borrowers can also get help during the product selection process.

Since I had a large debt load, the debt counselors suggested that I take up a debt consolidation loan. They did not force the product on me. This is one of the peculiarities of debt counseling. The debt counselor presents an impartial view of the various products. However, not all debt counselors adopt a similar view. Most of them will sell their products in the guise of debt advice. Borrowers need to stay clear of such advisors. As in medical sciences, second opinion is always beneficial during selection of debt settlement products. There are a large number of profit and non-profit agencies and individuals who provide genuine and professional advice. Some of these, like Independent Financial Advisors are bound by the rules laid down by the Financial Services Authority to offer genuine advice.

The preventive role of debt counseling is more of an advisory nature. The aim of this exercise will be to instill debt sense in the people; though this will prove a Herculean task, given the strange relationship of people with debts. The role may take the form of a face-to-face meeting with an individual, or a conference wherein a number of people are addressed at one time.

During these sessions, the debt counselor advises borrowers of ways to deal with debts. Debt consolidation loans and debt consolidation mortgages can at the best relieve individuals of debts for sometime. However, if the individual does not improve his spending habits, he will again have a large debt load. Through preventive debt counseling, the debt counselor aims to strike at the roots of the debt.

Some of the principal debt counseling tips include:

Do not spend more than what you earn.
If the expenditure is necessary, then a provision needs to be made for its payment.
Every individual must prepare a priority list showing the importance of each expenditure.
Try to generate newer sources of income.
If a debt has been incurred, then it must be repaid with priority.
Preventive debt counseling tips are not new to people. They may have heard of them from their parents or recited them in moral science classes, but all these lessons vanish while spending. A workable debt counseling method must be practical enough to be implemented. The borrower’s finance needs to be studied exhaustively for finding an effective solution. No debt counseling is complete without the borrower’s participation. Consequently, borrowers need to tread safely on any debt decision that they make.

Tips On How To Turn Your Past Into A Productive Present

What is past and what is present? We obviously know that our past is gone and the events that formed the past can never be redone. The good, the bad, the beautiful or the ugly; they’ve already occurred; and all over now. What is important whenever we reminisce on our past is to make it as productive and relevant as possible to our present. While you cannot change what has transpired, you can change how you think about what happened.

Usually, when you think about the past and ever allow the positive events to dominate your thoughts, the tendencies are that; you will likely be grateful for those happy moments and probably imagine reliving it which may result in another emotion of self-pity knowing very well you cannot relive the past. In some cases, it helps you think of ways to improve your present so that the happiness continues. On the contrary, if ever your memory of the events you termed as negative needs to be revisited, unless you deal with the emotions associated with those events, you will continue to carry them with you into the present moment. To a large extent, if you failed to resolve issues of the past, the memories of such experiences become responsible for your spiritual and emotional bankruptcy when you become an adult. For instance if as a child, you were greatly abused, molested or had been harshly criticized and failed to deal with it earlier on, you are more likely to become very defensive and insecure in your adult life, which in essence becomes part of you and a way of life.

When you do not let go of tales of unhappiness, resentment, or rejection that filled your past you find it increasingly difficult to merge present activities to your dreams, sometimes the feelings you hold on to from your past experiences even deter you from aspiring as high as possible, having allowed those emotions of fear, revenge, guilt, blame or insecurity, to affect other areas of your life; which may include your relationships with people, attitudes, business and money matters. Undoubtedly, many of us have events, situations or people in our histories, which still evoke some emotions in us, but there is always time to work on such emotions to move beyond it. Maybe you were a victim of child abuse, and believe you could never live beyond the vestiges of that? Or you are finding it hard to forgive yourself for something you did years ago, and the guilt won’t just fade? There is nothing you can’t achieve if you believe and try.

The mistakes of yesteryear, either by you or other people, that have deposited a great deal of negative feelings within your body and soul, could be transformed from a severe liability into a valuable asset. While you could successfully do away with your feelings of anger, revenge, guilt, blame or fear, you simply didn’t because there is a reward from holding on your pain. You gain a lot from the thrill of the story. By having the story to tell, you derive some pleasure and get accepted by others. You create a stir and pacify your personal need for attention and the emotional energy associated with the event will be refreshed every time you tell your story. There is no harm in telling stories of your past but not in a way to allow you to whirl in your self-pity, or make others feel sorry for you because this simply puts you down and draw you back into unpleasant meditations.

Why not choose to use your past as a resource for progress and not a pool for pain? Why not choose to use your past as a sort of benchmark, counting your blessings on how well you have transformed your past into an inspiration for others? Many people are comfortable making themselves feel bad and do so at any opportunity. No matter what acknowledgement and attention you receive from sinking yourself into the ludicrous slush of sad tales, it can’t be as gainful as directing all your energies to your present moment, striving with focus for a greater tomorrow.

Tips to help:

Make amends where possible - If you need to make an apology for a past event and you really know it is possible for you to do so, then go ahead and free your mind, body and soul. Say sorry to whom you think deserves it. However, if you need an apology, don’t demand it except it is given voluntarily, don’t get stuck to the idea that you deserve an apology and not tendered. You often get disappointed expecting some people to do the right things. It keeps you stuck and away from achieving something greater. Take your mind off it and consider it inessential, because until you cut that chain, you cannot move forward. The process of making amends continue as you constantly aim to improve on our attitudes, behaviours, and a change in our outlook of the past in ensuring that the grievous harm from the past is totally erased.

Remember the past without strong emotions -Learn not to revisit your past morbidly or needlessly. You should practice letting go of the feelings that bring back the hurt you knew before and always view your past from a perspective that will make it as harmless as possible to you. See your past as a depot of knowledge and information which can help you make connections to elevate your self-esteem, courage and confidence.

Forgive- Learn to forgive yourself and forgive others who have maltreated you. More importantly, because you have made yourself a ditch filled with filth, carrying over the wreckage of your lost values. When you forgive, you will be able to first, believe in yourself, appreciate your worth, and give yourself the kindness, respect and love you deserve as well as extend such to others around you, far and near.

Need for acceptance- You have to accept the past, appreciate the experiences and acknowledge the lessons you have been able to learn from such experiences as all those will impact on your actions towards the positive changes required. You will then begin to tell just a story from one mile of the journey of your life and nothing more, simply accepting without condition and the more you accept, you become more accepting and forgiving to and of others. No matter what your past experiences were, you can live happier, without any grudge against yourself and anyone else by being in control of your actions and decisions and accept that your past had been the it was, simply because nature wanted it so. You have choices with your present moment and you can make the best use of the tools you now have.