There’s a term I like to familiarize my friends and clients with — “Buy Ready.” You can have your finances, needs and wants and particular building in order, but being Buy Ready enables you to take advantage of your planning.
The good units in popular buildings can be gone in a matter of days, even in today’s market. It’s ok to have specific requirements, as many do — a view of the lake, higher than floor X, a washroom you don’t have to cross the living room to get to, and so on, but if you have such requirements/restrictions you have to put yourself in a position to jump on the right unit as soon as it becomes available. Knowing the right unit the instant you see it and being confident in your level of education of the building is being Buy Ready.
For example, many buyers need parking and a locker. Especially in the most popular buildings, such units are hard to come by. The educated buyer will know that in most cases additional spots from the builder are impossible. They will also know that current owners often sell or rent parking spots or lockers. They’ll know the rough costs for each, where and how to find availabilities, and know how to actually acquire each or both, and they’ll know this before other buyers — you need to be thinking about the right price while others are thinking about the right building. You should also be confident that you really need a locker, for example, given how expensive they’ve become over the past few years.
If you can’t determine whether pursuing is a good idea as soon as you view a place your education level is not where it should be. Please don’t mistake moving quickly here for moving irrationally. The main point is that any rational thinking you might do after the showing you can, and should, do before. Imagine going into a project meeting without knowing the relevant competition, stats, pros/cons, and goals beforehand.
Unfortunately many people have been conditioned through negative experiences with poor agents to believe that moving quickly is always a bad thing. It’s important to understand that you can move fast for the wrong reasons, but you can also move fast for the right reasons. Those reasons include giving yourself the best chance of securing the condo, or house, you want. Make no mistake that even in this market the best opportunities are faced with multiple buyers. I recently showed a power of sale home which generated three offers within the first 24 hours. Because we were educated on all the aspects of a power of sale and a multiple offer situation, we were able to move swiftly, intelligently, and secure a very good deal.
– Amit is a Realtor/Developer withRe/Max. amitp@rogers.com
