Buyer Beware! The Biggest Homebuying Mistakes in Portland

Thinking about buying a home in Portland? Don’t make these costly mistakes! In this episode, Joe and Makayla break down the most common homebuying pitfalls they see in the market. From skipping inspections to not getting pre-approved, we’ll walk you through what NOT to do so you can make smarter decisions. Plus, we introduce our new "In the News" segment, covering the latest real estate updates, including insights from industry expert Barbara Corcoran. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or a seasoned investor, this episode is packed with valuable tips to help you navigate today’s housing market.

Episode Highlights: 

✅ New Segment: In the News – Breaking down the latest market trends, inventory updates, and expert insights from Barbara Corcoran. 

✅ Top Homebuying Mistakes – Learn why skipping inspections, not getting pre-approved, and misinterpreting contracts can cost you big time. 

✅ Inspection Must-Knows – The right way to protect yourself while making your offer competitive. 

✅ Why Pre-Approval Matters – How skipping this step can kill your chances in a competitive market. 

✅ Hidden Homebuying Costs – Inspection fees, appraisals, closing costs, and other expenses that catch buyers off guard. 

✅ Negotiation Strategies That Work – How to get the best deal and potentially save thousands. 

✅ The Emotional Side of Buying – The importance of staying true to your top priorities when choosing a home.

Loved this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! Have a real estate question or a topic you’d like us to cover? Visit us at livportland.com and reach out! Follow us for more expert tips on navigating Portland’s real estate market.

Thank you for listening to this episode. Stay up to date on the latest trends and insights by subscribing to our podcast and following us on social media.

For more information about buying or selling in the Portland Metro real estate market, please visit www.LivPortland.com or contact us directly.

We appreciate your feedback, so please leave a review and let us know what topics you would like to hear more about.

Transcript

00;00;08;06 - 00;00;21;11

Joe Reitzug

Welcome to off the record Talking real estate with Joe and Makayla. If you're interested in the Portland, Oregon real estate market and want the unvarnished inside scoop, you've come to the right place. Thanks for giving us a listen.

00;00;21;11 - 00;00;27;05

Joe Reitzug

Okay. Welcome, everyone. Thanks for joining us on the podcast. Hello, Makayla. How are you?

00;00;27;09 - 00;00;29;26

Makayla Mast

I'm good. It's Valentine's day.

00;00;29;29 - 00;00;32;03

Joe Reitzug

It is. Happy Valentine's, Valentine's day.

00;00;32;04 - 00;00;37;29

Makayla Mast

It won't be Valentine's Day when this releases. We're not that on top of our game, but maybe one day we will be.

00;00;38;01 - 00;00;41;08

Joe Reitzug

Rica is on top of her game. Yeah.

00;00;41;10 - 00;00;42;22

Makayla Mast

Day two of the snow.

00;00;42;23 - 00;00;44;25

Joe Reitzug

Yeah. Day two of Snowmageddon.

00;00;44;25 - 00;00;49;28

Joe Reitzug

I had a 5.5 hour home inspection yesterday up in the highlands of Lake Oswego,

00;00;49;28 - 00;00;53;18

Joe Reitzug

it was nasty. It was really nasty.

00;00;53;18 - 00;01;05;23

Joe Reitzug

But we've got a great podcast put together for everyone today. We will be talking about the biggest homebuying mistakes in Portland and some of the things that we're seeing homebuyers do.

00;01;05;23 - 00;01;10;22

Joe Reitzug

Mostly when we're representing the sellers, we see a lot of this from buyers,

00;01;10;22 - 00;01;12;29

Joe Reitzug

making offers on our clients properties.

00;01;12;29 - 00;01;30;03

Joe Reitzug

But we thought we'd share it just so you guys can, you know, if you're in the market or you're thinking about getting in the market or just from a real estate standpoint, there are some things you can do to really help yourself, but there's certainly a lot of things you can do that are not so great. So we'll be talking about those.

00;01;30;03 - 00;01;33;11

Joe Reitzug

But before we do that, we've got a new segment.

00;01;33;14 - 00;01;34;14

Makayla Mast

Drumroll.

00;01;34;16 - 00;01;39;18

Joe Reitzug

I did a little demo, a little we are going to be doing the in the news.

00;01;39;21 - 00;01;52;14

Makayla Mast

I love this, I feel like there's a lot of real estate news that goes on some weeks more than others, and it's exciting to me to think about getting to report on a quote unquote right in real time.

00;01;52;14 - 00;01;56;08

Makayla Mast

And we think it could be useful for you to hear our take on some of these things.

00;01;56;10 - 00;02;04;14

Joe Reitzug

Yeah. So this is the In the news segment with your net and news person. Makayla might just be the weather guy off to the side.

00;02;04;16 - 00;02;06;24

Makayla Mast

No, please. No.

00;02;06;24 - 00;02;08;10

Joe Reitzug

So what's in the news? What are you seeing?

00;02;08;11 - 00;02;13;12

Makayla Mast

Well, it was kind of a slow week, which was disappointing because we were excited about this, but,

00;02;13;12 - 00;02;19;10

Makayla Mast

I found the Barbara Corcoran interview really interesting. If you guys don't know who she is, she,

00;02;19;10 - 00;02;28;01

Makayla Mast

is a self-made millionaire, maybe billionaire. And she was a billionaire, but she found her wealth through selling real estate.

00;02;28;04 - 00;02;34;13

Joe Reitzug

She was the queen bee of real estate in New York City for years and years and years. Now you can see her on Shark Tank.

00;02;34;29 - 00;02;36;06

Joe Reitzug

And she's really good.

00;02;36;09 - 00;02;53;04

Makayla Mast

She's great. I like her take. She's very straightforward. No B.S., not really like a headline person. They interviewed her on Fox News. They do pretty regularly but I don't know I thought it was interesting because I felt like she was saying a lot of the same things that we've been feeling.

00;02;53;04 - 00;02;58;20

Makayla Mast

And she noted that rates aren't going to come below 6% this year.

00;02;58;20 - 00;03;04;25

Makayla Mast

And if they do get to 6.25, you should be excited about that and jump on that opportunity.

00;03;04;27 - 00;03;08;21

Joe Reitzug

She also said that that if that happens, prices are going to drive through the.

00;03;08;21 - 00;03;09;15

Makayla Mast

Roof, right?

00;03;09;19 - 00;03;10;26

Joe Reitzug

Again. Yeah.

00;03;10;29 - 00;03;11;19

Makayla Mast

Which is such.

00;03;11;19 - 00;03;38;17

Joe Reitzug

Which exacerbates the problem that we have right now, especially here in Portland, which is affordability. So it's kind of a mixed bag. And you know, she's been she said a lot of the things that we've been talking about for a long time is that, you know, it's just it's really tough for first time homebuyers and people with not a lot of equity in their house who need a bigger house or need to move for job situations or whatever.

00;03;38;17 - 00;03;44;09

Joe Reitzug

It's just a really difficult time in real estate, and you really have to pay attention to the details.

00;03;44;09 - 00;03;59;12

Joe Reitzug

But also, you know, here locally, some of the big news that came out was we have the most amount of inventory that we've had in years since, I think, before the pandemic. That's crazy. 3.7 months, which is.

00;03;59;12 - 00;04;02;13

Makayla Mast

Still isn't a totally balanced market.

00;04;02;14 - 00;04;09;14

Joe Reitzug

Not a lot. Last January was 3.2 and then 2023 was 2.7.

00;04;09;14 - 00;04;12;03

Joe Reitzug

it's kind of a weird stat because,

00;04;12;03 - 00;04;17;23

Joe Reitzug

the reason there's more homes on the market and available is not just because there's more people putting their homes on the market.

00;04;17;23 - 00;04;21;02

Joe Reitzug

It's because less of them are selling. Right.

00;04;21;02 - 00;04;24;18

Joe Reitzug

Sales went down 21% from January to December,

00;04;24;18 - 00;04;27;17

Joe Reitzug

which is not great. No, no, not at all.

00;04;27;17 - 00;04;40;03

Joe Reitzug

Loan applications, which are a big indicator for us because that's the very beginning of the process for most buyers, when they sit down with their lender and make application for a loan and basically give all their information,

00;04;40;03 - 00;04;46;17

Joe Reitzug

the loan officer, the and the mortgage broker will then take that information and say, okay, well, you're qualified for up to

00;04;46;17 - 00;04;51;17

Joe Reitzug

550,000 with either a 510% down payment or whatever the case might be.

00;04;51;20 - 00;05;00;09

Joe Reitzug

But those numbers and they keep track of how many people are making, loan application 65% down. Yeah.

00;05;00;11 - 00;05;00;17

Makayla Mast

Over.

00;05;00;17 - 00;05;01;05

Joe Reitzug

The last year.

00;05;01;05 - 00;05;04;02

Joe Reitzug

So a lot fewer people in the marketplace.

00;05;04;02 - 00;05;05;15

Joe Reitzug

But like anything, I think

00;05;05;15 - 00;05;06;16

Joe Reitzug

there's opportunity

00;05;06;16 - 00;05;10;12

Joe Reitzug

and whatever the situation is, and, and I think the opportunity here is that,

00;05;10;12 - 00;05;12;02

Joe Reitzug

you know, if you can afford a home,

00;05;12;02 - 00;05;14;02

Joe Reitzug

if it's a good situation for you,

00;05;14;02 - 00;05;14;26

Joe Reitzug

done your homework.

00;05;14;26 - 00;05;17;00

Joe Reitzug

There are really good places to be.

00;05;17;00 - 00;05;22;29

Makayla Mast

But there is I feel like it is a really good time to buy. Like you said, if you're well prepared,

00;05;22;29 - 00;05;25;09

Makayla Mast

I'm so surprised by that stat.

00;05;25;09 - 00;05;38;29

Makayla Mast

Because, you know, the interest rates crept up. What. It's been two years now, almost. And so everyone who has those low interest rate mortgages aren't wanting to get rid of them, which is completely understandable.

00;05;38;29 - 00;05;40;16

Makayla Mast

But it's just interesting that,

00;05;40;16 - 00;05;52;23

Makayla Mast

because in my mind, I would have thought there'd be a lag from people not buying. And maybe those people are saving up over the last year, and that this year is the year they've been waiting and they can jump on it. But that is just not what we're seeing.

00;05;52;23 - 00;05;54;08

Joe Reitzug

No, it is not.

00;05;54;08 - 00;05;55;15

Makayla Mast

But. So it's okay. Yeah.

00;05;55;18 - 00;06;05;05

Joe Reitzug

So that's the news. And, and what we're seeing right now, we're going to dig deeper for the next part. These were kind of some just general things, but we're going to dig deeper and find out,

00;06;05;05 - 00;06;07;01

Joe Reitzug

you know, some of the ins and outs of,

00;06;07;01 - 00;06;12;24

Joe Reitzug

what real estate is doing here locally and nationally for you just kind of give you some snippets on some stuff that might be interesting.

00;06;12;24 - 00;06;17;24

Joe Reitzug

But now we want to take you to our topic for the day, which is buyer beware.

00;06;18;01 - 00;06;19;13

Makayla Mast

Buyers beware.

00;06;19;14 - 00;06;21;12

Joe Reitzug

The biggest homebuying mistakes in Portland.

00;06;21;12 - 00;06;22;01

Joe Reitzug

So tell me

00;06;22;01 - 00;06;24;05

Joe Reitzug

what's the scoop? What's the skinny here?

00;06;24;07 - 00;06;32;20

Makayla Mast

Well, they're obviously buying a home is one of the biggest investments you'll ever make. But small mistakes during this process can cost you big time.

00;06;32;20 - 00;06;40;16

Makayla Mast

And we wanted to break down the most common and avoidable mistakes Portland homebuyers make. Really? Any home buyers? This isn't exactly exclusive to Portland.

00;06;40;16 - 00;06;43;23

Makayla Mast

From you know, some people waive inspections in order to,

00;06;43;23 - 00;06;44;14

Makayla Mast

the house.

00;06;44;14 - 00;06;44;22

Makayla Mast

And,

00;06;44;22 - 00;06;53;03

Makayla Mast

maybe they aren't pre-approved before things get competitive. We have a long list. So we're going to go through each of those bullet points and give our take.

00;06;53;06 - 00;06;57;01

Joe Reitzug

So we still see people waiving inspections, which to me is crazy.

00;06;57;02 - 00;06;57;13

Makayla Mast

Yeah.

00;06;57;13 - 00;07;05;26

Joe Reitzug

And it's one of those things where you can affect that same impact with the seller while still being able to do your inspection.

00;07;05;26 - 00;07;07;03

Joe Reitzug

Do the inspection,

00;07;07;03 - 00;07;07;27

Joe Reitzug

and,

00;07;07;27 - 00;07;17;19

Joe Reitzug

just say that you're not going to ask for any repairs, but you still keep the right to terminate the transaction if something catastrophic comes up. If you waive your inspection,

00;07;17;19 - 00;07;19;03

Joe Reitzug

that contingency is gone.

00;07;19;09 - 00;07;21;14

Joe Reitzug

And even if you do an inspection,

00;07;21;14 - 00;07;25;21

Joe Reitzug

you know, you might find something, but you've already accepted the property as is, right?

00;07;25;21 - 00;07;43;23

Makayla Mast

the other thing that we like to suggest is you can say you have the right to do an inspection, but you won't ask for any single repair under 3000 or 5000 or whatever you choose that amount to be, whatever you're comfortable with. That way the sellers know, okay, they're not going to be nitpicking me on these small items.

00;07;43;23 - 00;07;50;19

Makayla Mast

It's not going to be a headache for me to close the sale with them. But if there's a leak in the roof or a crack in the sewer line, we'll get that taken care of, right?

00;07;50;20 - 00;07;54;22

Joe Reitzug

Yeah, exactly. I think that's a much better way to go. And it still gives you,

00;07;54;22 - 00;07;56;07

Joe Reitzug

some credibility and

00;07;56;07 - 00;07;59;06

Joe Reitzug

some benefit with the seller around that contingency.

00;07;59;07 - 00;08;22;06

Makayla Mast

So even when we work with our investor clients who are buying these, you know, $400,000 houses or less that are in complete need of repair, and they've been through themselves and they have the eye to look for these things when they say Makayla, Joe, pull on the offer, we're not asking for inspections. That kills me inside. I know it's just such a risk and it doesn't

00;08;22;06 - 00;08;24;25

Makayla Mast

feel like it to them is they feel like they can repair anything.

00;08;24;25 - 00;08;32;13

Makayla Mast

But I feel like I'm always sending those offers with closed eyes because, yeah, hurts my soul a little bit. So please, please always get inspections.

00;08;32;13 - 00;08;43;22

Joe Reitzug

Number two, how not getting pre-approved can ruin your chances in a competitive market. It feels like a no brainer, but I still see people that don't have an approval letter when they're making their offers.

00;08;43;23 - 00;08;44;02

Makayla Mast

Right?

00;08;44;02 - 00;08;46;29

Makayla Mast

I think that if they're working with a mortgage broker or lender

00;08;46;29 - 00;09;00;18

Makayla Mast

that means they're far along in the process, but you really aren't fully there until you have that pre-approval from the lender. Like, I know it's annoying to get all these documents to them, and it takes time, but you're not pre-approved until you're pre-approved, right?

00;09;00;21 - 00;09;10;18

Joe Reitzug

And the other thing you know, most savvy listing brokers are going to look at the pre-approval and see if credit's been pulled. Right. And a lot of people will say,

00;09;10;18 - 00;09;11;05

Joe Reitzug

I made loan

00;09;11;05 - 00;09;11;29

Joe Reitzug

application

00;09;12;06 - 00;09;14;24

Joe Reitzug

lender or the mortgage broker didn't pull credit.

00;09;14;24 - 00;09;18;03

Joe Reitzug

And that's one of those things that they're going to have to do.

00;09;18;04 - 00;09;22;25

Joe Reitzug

So go ahead and have them do that upfront and have them in clued that in

00;09;22;25 - 00;09;25;07

Joe Reitzug

the approval letter. Because without that,

00;09;25;07 - 00;09;29;07

Joe Reitzug

that's a big one for me. If I'm reviewing an offer and they haven't full credit yet,

00;09;29;07 - 00;09;30;01

Joe Reitzug

the other one is

00;09;30;01 - 00;09;33;14

Joe Reitzug

working with a bank lender versus a private private mortgage broker.

00;09;33;14 - 00;09;35;06

Joe Reitzug

The difference between that.

00;09;35;06 - 00;09;45;20

Joe Reitzug

So, like, like if I see a U.S. bank approval. Yeah. That's great. I know I'm not going to get them after 5:00, and I know I'm not going to get them on the weekends. You know what I mean.

00;09;45;22 - 00;10;03;24

Makayla Mast

And people really don't understand that there's nothing like wanting to write an offer for their, our client's dream home. And their bank lender won't pick up on a Sunday and they miss out on it. Yeah it's a big bummer. So make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you go shopping. I know it's exciting, but

00;10;03;24 - 00;10;04;28

Makayla Mast

yeah, it's important.

00;10;04;28 - 00;10;07;18

Joe Reitzug

So let's talk about a couple of the things in the contract.

00;10;07;18 - 00;10;11;01

Joe Reitzug

That can put, buyers in a tough spot. So identifying

00;10;11;01 - 00;10;13;29

Joe Reitzug

which inspections you'd like. Tell me about that.

00;10;14;01 - 00;10;20;28

Makayla Mast

So back to the inspection period when we write your offer there. These inspections called invasive inspections, and those

00;10;20;28 - 00;10;25;21

Makayla Mast

are categorized on most houses as radon testing and sewer scope testing

00;10;25;21 - 00;10;36;23

Makayla Mast

on more rural properties. Those would be like a septic test or a well test. And if you don't write in your offer that you want those tests done, then you don't necessarily have the right to do so.

00;10;36;23 - 00;10;39;19

Makayla Mast

You would have to go back and renegotiate, right?

00;10;39;19 - 00;10;46;06

Makayla Mast

And you're completely stuck at that point. So that has to be in your initial offer that you're going to be having those conducted

00;10;46;06 - 00;10;50;11

Joe Reitzug

Knowing the difference between personal property and a fixture.

00;10;50;13 - 00;10;52;16

Makayla Mast

I have such a horror story with this one.

00;10;52;19 - 00;10;54;05

Joe Reitzug

Lay it on me.

00;10;54;07 - 00;11;01;15

Makayla Mast

One of my first client buyer clients. They thought that they were going to get the washer and dryer at closing.

00;11;01;15 - 00;11;13;27

Makayla Mast

That was never in the contract. They just assumed that it would stay with the House. But that is considered personal property. And on the day of closing, when I was so excited to give them their keys, they're walking through the house.

00;11;13;27 - 00;11;33;17

Makayla Mast

They're all excited, and the wife notices that the washer and dryer aren't there, and she threw a tantrum like the worst five year old I've ever met. It was gnarly. I was stunned. I had to just say, I'm sorry. Gotta go. Yeah. But, yeah, that was that was an awkward situation. A lot of people think that.

00;11;33;19 - 00;11;49;03

Joe Reitzug

You know, they might get a copy of the listing, or it might even say it in online, you know, listings that, you know, there's a washer and dryer in this and that, whatever refrigerator, if it's not written in the contract, it's not a part of the transaction. Right.

00;11;49;08 - 00;11;56;11

Makayla Mast

So that things that are fixed to the house, which is such a long conversation, we could go on forever about that.

00;11;56;11 - 00;12;01;07

Joe Reitzug

But anything that's screwed into a wall or attached physically,

00;12;01;07 - 00;12;04;21

Joe Reitzug

is a fixture. If it can be picked up like a picture.

00;12;04;24 - 00;12;06;06

Makayla Mast

Or a refrigerator.

00;12;06;09 - 00;12;10;27

Joe Reitzug

You know, if it's a freestanding refrigerator or something like that, then it's personal property.

00;12;10;29 - 00;12;32;26

Makayla Mast

So all of that has to be talked about beforehand. Another thing, you know, some buyers don't quite understand how important earnest money is when they're making their offer. It's always seems to be a conversation when we're writing the offer that their earnest money is due within three business days of their offer being accepted. So you have a little bit of time, but not a lot of time.

00;12;32;26 - 00;12;42;25

Makayla Mast

And, you know, that takes sometimes going to the bank and getting a cashier's check and coordinating during business hours and some people oftentimes don't have the ability to do that.

00;12;42;26 - 00;12;48;10

Joe Reitzug

So yeah, I remember a situation years ago, very competitive.

00;12;48;10 - 00;12;49;21

Joe Reitzug

there were multiple offers.

00;12;49;21 - 00;12;50;10

Joe Reitzug

The buyer

00;12;50;10 - 00;12;53;00

Joe Reitzug

won the bid, got first position

00;12;53;00 - 00;13;08;18

Joe Reitzug

didn't deposit their earnest money. And the seller said, sorry, you didn't live up to the terms. We're going to go with the backup offer. Who had increase their offer amount to make it even more appealing to the seller to move on from them.

00;13;08;21 - 00;13;13;01

Joe Reitzug

So because they didn't deposit the earnest money within three business days, they were out of contract.

00;13;13;01 - 00;13;23;22

Joe Reitzug

Seller moved on to the second position buyer and ended up selling to them. And that's that's a rough way to go. But all those details are critically important.

00;13;23;25 - 00;13;38;23

Makayla Mast

Absolutely. And I think most of them get ironed out as we're writing the contracts. But if we're not representing you, you know, we aren't able to help you. So, you know, those are some things that we see on the selling side a lot of times to.

00;13;38;25 - 00;13;40;07

Joe Reitzug

Talk to me about cost.

00;13;40;07 - 00;13;53;07

Joe Reitzug

I, you know, we like to talk about this upfront with people, but I get the sense that a lot of buyers are blindsided. Home buyers are blindsided by some of the costs that are incurred after you get your offer accepted.

00;13;53;09 - 00;13;55;29

Makayla Mast

So I mean like everything costs have gone up.

00;13;55;29 - 00;13;57;15

Makayla Mast

So inspection costs

00;13;57;15 - 00;14;06;18

Makayla Mast

obviously have crept up too. But that can be anywhere between like $600 and $1,000 just to have your inspections done.

00;14;06;20 - 00;14;09;05

Joe Reitzug

And I know that yesterday was 1200.

00;14;09;06 - 00;14;10;04

Makayla Mast

Yeah, I believe it.

00;14;10;05 - 00;14;11;27

Joe Reitzug

Yeah. Yeah. It's a big house.

00;14;12;00 - 00;14;28;18

Makayla Mast

Huge house that took him, like the whole day. Yeah. But you know, when you're thinking about or when you're putting more money down and then you ever have in your life for anything, and then you have this dang inspection, cause sometimes that's just kind of a kick in the gut. So we like to really prepare people for that.

00;14;28;18 - 00;14;42;00

Makayla Mast

And, you know, the inspection period is still a negotiation period. So a lot can happen. And that cost is kind of a risk. You could lose that money and not get the house, which is just something you have to know going into it.

00;14;42;00 - 00;14;52;19

Makayla Mast

And then the appraisal, that is another spendy one that you pay through your lender, that's what, around 6 to $800.

00;14;52;21 - 00;15;01;11

Joe Reitzug

I would say 700 to 1000, depending on the size of the home, the location, if it has property, all those different kind of things. But it's expensive.

00;15;01;12 - 00;15;07;19

Makayla Mast

Yeah. Not appraisals are associated with your lender closing costs, which we'll get into next.

00;15;07;19 - 00;15;12;23

Makayla Mast

But you know, so that is kind of thought of when your lender gives you an estimate

00;15;12;23 - 00;15;13;21

Makayla Mast

to close, but

00;15;13;21 - 00;15;20;26

Makayla Mast

still it's needed before the closing happens. Yeah. And then we have the lender estimated closing costs.

00;15;20;26 - 00;15;27;01

Joe Reitzug

There are so many different fees and escrow and recording and tax filing and

00;15;27;01 - 00;15;27;18

Joe Reitzug

all of that.

00;15;27;18 - 00;15;28;22

Joe Reitzug

for most people,

00;15;28;22 - 00;15;32;14

Joe Reitzug

it's a good idea to get an estimated closing cost

00;15;32;14 - 00;15;34;10

Joe Reitzug

sheet right from your lender

00;15;34;10 - 00;15;35;01

Joe Reitzug

front,

00;15;35;01 - 00;15;41;07

Joe Reitzug

showing exactly what all your fees are going to be. So that you know how much you're going to have to come out of pocket with.

00;15;41;09 - 00;15;45;12

Joe Reitzug

The other thing is building and closing costs into the sale, which

00;15;45;12 - 00;15;46;08

Joe Reitzug

is actually,

00;15;46;08 - 00;15;47;25

Joe Reitzug

previously when you started.

00;15;47;27 - 00;15;49;01

Makayla Mast

We didn't do. No, no.

00;15;49;04 - 00;15;50;15

Joe Reitzug

No, it was too competitive.

00;15;50;16 - 00;15;52;03

Makayla Mast

Giving your first form to the four of us.

00;15;52;05 - 00;15;59;03

Joe Reitzug

Yeah. You were going to ask the seller for anything. You're given everything. Now it's a much more balanced marketplace.

00;15;59;03 - 00;16;01;09

Joe Reitzug

buyers should be asking for closing costs.

00;16;01;09 - 00;16;08;13

Joe Reitzug

ask for the seller to pay your brokers representation fees. 99% of them do.

00;16;08;13 - 00;16;10;10

Joe Reitzug

And then ask for closing cost.

00;16;10;14 - 00;16;19;03

Makayla Mast

Absolutely. That. Yeah, that's actually what we talk about next. When we talk about negotiation tactics that can save you thousands of dollars.

00;16;19;03 - 00;16;31;27

Makayla Mast

So that's, you know, leaning right into that, we have been really recommending that buyers ask for closing costs to be covered, especially if the home that they're offering on has been sitting on the market for any amount of time longer than seven days.

00;16;31;27 - 00;16;34;29

Joe Reitzug

One of the best tactics, and I know you do this a lot.

00;16;34;29 - 00;16;35;16

Joe Reitzug

when I'm

00;16;35;16 - 00;16;48;04

Joe Reitzug

representing a seller and the broker reaches out to me, say to say, hey, I'm writing an offer on the property. You know what's important to the seller? Is it just highest and best price? Is it closing fast?

00;16;48;06 - 00;16;48;29

Joe Reitzug

Is it,

00;16;48;29 - 00;16;51;28

Joe Reitzug

you know, do they need a little bit of time after the sale?

00;16;51;28 - 00;16;54;25

Joe Reitzug

After closing to be in the in the house.

00;16;54;25 - 00;17;10;15

Joe Reitzug

What is it that they're trying to accomplish and what's most important to them? That's very refreshing, because it tells me that the broker understands the business and also knows how important it is to find out what's truly important to the seller, because obviously it's price.

00;17;10;20 - 00;17;40;14

Joe Reitzug

Right? It's always going to be price. You want highest, highest value. But that doesn't always. That's not always the top thing that they're looking for. Sometimes they've got other needs and other requirements and you know it's even sometimes emotional things like they want to know that the buyer is going to treat this property a certain way, or you know that they know and understand that it's a tight neighborhood and all those type of things.

00;17;40;16 - 00;17;57;16

Makayla Mast

I agree along with that. Going back to refrigerators, some sellers will get thrown off about the weirdest things. Well, it seems weird to us, but, you know, if they want to take their refrigerator and buyer rights in that they want the refrigerator they could get so hung up on that if they decide to not go with you.

00;17;57;18 - 00;18;03;08

Makayla Mast

So I do think that's the most important thing is just totally understanding what the seller's want.

00;18;03;10 - 00;18;24;00

Joe Reitzug

Yeah. And if it is highest and best, you know, we talked about writing and closing costs. If it's a $600,000 sale and you want to get 15,000 in closing cost, but you know you want and feel like you want to offer full price right? In 615 and have them pay it back. So it's still a full price offer.

00;18;24;02 - 00;18;31;28

Joe Reitzug

It's over asking. They're going to credit you 15,000 at closing but they're getting their 600,000 right.

00;18;31;28 - 00;18;34;05

Joe Reitzug

The other one that I always look at is

00;18;34;05 - 00;18;56;16

Joe Reitzug

if a listing broker says it's highest and best, that's it. Take that for serious because that, that tells me that okay, if we're in a competitive situation and let's say the list price is 600 again and the buyer is like okay, we'll just offering full price while everyone else is getting that information.

00;18;56;19 - 00;19;11;13

Joe Reitzug

How about we go 605 it changes your payment by, you know, half a cup of Starbucks every month. Let's go. That extra five grand is something that a lot of sellers will look at and go, you sure? Okay, let's go with that offer. It's higher.

00;19;11;13 - 00;19;24;10

Makayla Mast

there's a lot of other little things baked in. I think that kind of umbrella, what we're talking about is the most important. That's a lot of what we do behind the scenes for you. But if you know, we aren't working with you specifically,

00;19;24;10 - 00;19;29;05

Makayla Mast

just make sure you ask if your, agent can be really communicative for you.

00;19;29;05 - 00;19;38;19

Makayla Mast

There's little fees that, again, sometimes people get hung up on, like, HOA transfer fees that you could write in the contract. You know, maybe there's something different.

00;19;38;19 - 00;19;46;07

Makayla Mast

That's worth negotiating with the seller. But I think the, the biggest cost that is best to negotiate is those closing costs. Yeah.

00;19;46;09 - 00;20;11;11

Joe Reitzug

So one of the last items that I think doesn't get talked about enough is personal preferences for buyers and husband and wives or, you know, couples in any shape or form or fashion are always so funny to listen to. You know, when you when you walk into a house and if you've been working with, you know, someone for a while, you know, when you walk into a place and you're like, oh.

00;20;11;11 - 00;20;11;19

Makayla Mast

You know.

00;20;11;19 - 00;20;21;15

Joe Reitzug

Instantly, oh yeah, this is it. This is going to be a good one. And other times it's so strange because I feel like people just get beat down from the process.

00;20;21;16 - 00;20;21;28

Makayla Mast

Yeah, they.

00;20;21;28 - 00;20;34;16

Joe Reitzug

Do, and they walk in and I, I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a house and gone and, this isn't that. And either the husband or the wife or whoever will say, it's pretty nice.

00;20;34;23 - 00;20;43;24

Makayla Mast

And you're like, this is the best. You're going to get this. Sorry, this is the best you're going to see. I promise. That was a little harsh.

00;20;43;24 - 00;20;44;16

Joe Reitzug

But that is a.

00;20;44;16 - 00;20;46;20

Makayla Mast

Little hard in thinking it sometimes.

00;20;46;26 - 00;21;10;13

Joe Reitzug

You know, I had I had a couple the young couple who's an engineer for Intel. So super, super nice. Him and his girlfriend, he was buying the house, but she was very, very much involved. And he was constantly trying to, you know, get her input, you know, and she would give it and, you know, I could tell that he was sacrificing some of the things that he really wanted.

00;21;10;14 - 00;21;11;22

Makayla Mast

Oh, okay.

00;21;11;25 - 00;21;20;21

Joe Reitzug

And so I was, I was I had to sit down with him a couple of times. He would be out looking around in the house, and he and I would sometimes sit on the couch or whatever. And, you know,

00;21;20;21 - 00;21;21;23

Joe Reitzug

We've seen the house. Yeah.

00;21;21;26 - 00;21;23;05

Makayla Mast

You're like, that's my name.

00;21;23;11 - 00;21;34;08

Joe Reitzug

And I. But I would ask him, I'd say, you know, hey, what do you think about this? Is this really? Yeah. Well, it's not really the neighborhood I'm working for, but I think she really likes it. And it's like.

00;21;34;08 - 00;21;35;25

Makayla Mast

You're like, okay.

00;21;35;27 - 00;21;38;22

Joe Reitzug

Yeah, this isn't the sweater you're buying.

00;21;38;23 - 00;21;40;20

Makayla Mast

Yeah, it's the figure that you're.

00;21;40;20 - 00;21;42;12

Joe Reitzug

Going to be driving to and from all.

00;21;42;12 - 00;21;43;13

Makayla Mast

The time.

00;21;43;18 - 00;22;03;25

Joe Reitzug

And if you're not happy with that neighborhood or whatever the, you know, the thing might be it's going to night. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So not settling when you have, you know, figure out what's your top 2 to 3, 3 to 4 preferences are about a home that you want to live in and want to buy and then really

00;22;03;25 - 00;22;04;21

Joe Reitzug

be,

00;22;04;21 - 00;22;05;22

Joe Reitzug

firm with that I think.

00;22;05;22 - 00;22;06;19

Makayla Mast

Yeah, I agree.

00;22;06;19 - 00;22;10;09

Joe Reitzug

And there are some times where you need to kind of negotiate and.

00;22;10;11 - 00;22;31;14

Makayla Mast

Right, like if you're getting four out of five things that you really, really want, you know, how important is that fifth thing to you, right? But really be honest with yourself. On if the things you're going to let go of are going to make you upset every day. Yeah. You know, yeah, we were my husband and I were so lucky to get into our home in 2021 because it was very competitive market.

00;22;31;22 - 00;22;34;05

Makayla Mast

But we settled a little bit on the neighborhood

00;22;34;05 - 00;22;40;08

Makayla Mast

we love. Our neighbors are lovely, but it's an older neighborhood and it doesn't have sidewalks or streetlights at night.

00;22;40;10 - 00;22;42;20

Joe Reitzug

I didn't realize you just don't have street lights.

00;22;42;21 - 00;22;58;18

Makayla Mast

No. It's horrible. And we walk all the time. We walk our dogs at least once a day, sometimes twice. And so to not have sidewalks when there's busy traffic at rush hour and it's getting dark and you need a headlamp at five, it's not great. So I'm sad that we kind of settled on that one.

00;22;58;19 - 00;23;04;09

Joe Reitzug

So yeah, but you got a whole heck of a lot of other things accomplished with that purchase. Yes, I love it.

00;23;04;11 - 00;23;05;06

Makayla Mast

Oh thank you.

00;23;05;06 - 00;23;08;01

Joe Reitzug

You guys have done so great with this cozy. Yeah.

00;23;08;03 - 00;23;11;06

Makayla Mast

So anything else? I can't think of anything else now.

00;23;11;10 - 00;23;14;17

Joe Reitzug

I mean, when it comes to the biggest homebuying mistakes,

00;23;14;17 - 00;23;31;02

Joe Reitzug

not making sure it's the right fit and then not, you know, make sure when you interview a broker that they are going to be on top of the little thing and make sure that they really understand what's important to you. Right.

00;23;31;04 - 00;23;33;07

Makayla Mast

Yeah. If you're not feeling well represented

00;23;33;07 - 00;23;33;25

Makayla Mast

get out of there.

00;23;33;28 - 00;23;35;05

Joe Reitzug

Yeah. Get out of there.

00;23;35;05 - 00;23;36;19

Joe Reitzug

great question to ask,

00;23;36;19 - 00;23;45;00

Joe Reitzug

a broker when you're interviewing them to represent you and buying a home is what can you do to help me get my offer accepted?

00;23;45;03 - 00;23;47;23

Makayla Mast

That is a great question. Right. Smart.

00;23;47;28 - 00;23;52;21

Joe Reitzug

Yeah. So anyways, guys, we hope that you've enjoyed this podcast

00;23;52;21 - 00;24;02;10

Joe Reitzug

we really love doing this. So if you have any requests for content or anything, always looking for that. You can reach us at LivPortland, LivPortland.com.

00;24;02;10 - 00;24;10;10

Joe Reitzug

you can find our podcast on there all the past episodes. And thank you so much to everyone for watching, Second Rank Real Estate podcast here in Portland.

00;24;10;10 - 00;24;11;08

Joe Reitzug

Now is what they tell me.

00;24;11;10 - 00;24;11;29

Makayla Mast

Yay!

00;24;12;03 - 00;24;12;15

Joe Reitzug

Yeah.

00;24;12;16 - 00;24;15;18

Makayla Mast

Go figure. So exciting, I know. Hopefully we can live up to that.

00;24;15;21 - 00;24;17;25

Joe Reitzug

Shameless plug there.

00;24;17;28 - 00;24;20;26

Makayla Mast

I love it. Thank you for listening.

00;24;20;28 - 00;24;22;19

Joe Reitzug

All right guys, have a great day. Take care.

00;24;22;19 - 00;24;37;13

Joe Reitzug

Thanks for joining us today. If you're interested in finding out more about Joe, myself or the LivPortland team, you can go to LivPortland.com. Thanks for giving us a lesson and see you next time on the Off the Record podcast.