Maybe You Actually Get What You Pay For…

Taking Advice of Strangers Instead of Hiring Professionals

There was a time when we would have our winter tourists come to Bonita Springs and fall in love with the area. They’d get “drunk on palm trees”, fall head over heals in love with the area and want to shop for a Bonita Springs Florida home. We had our impulse buyers but it was more about beach lifestyle than scoring a deal.

Some vacationing buyers would start off on an impulse buying adventure, shop till they drop for a couple of days, return back to their snowy northern home to “think about it” and in a few days they’d “forget about it”. Out of sight, out of mind; it only took about four or five days of reality to erase the dream of owning Bonita Springs real estate. In actuality, there was no plan and that’s why they never purchased.

Occasionally, a spontaneous buyer has had things work out while they’re here. They’d been to Bonita Springs before. They have friends and family in the area. They’d poked around, gathered information and looked at a few places over the last few years. Eventually, the idea of buying real estate crossed paths at a time that they were vacationing and possibly close to relocating or retiring. Their partially developed plan was firmed up and a home was purchased.

These are two different kinds of buyers but only one of them had done any research or any planning.

Lately, I’ve been a little surprised at the amount of people that are making knee jerk reactions in the real estate market. It makes me wonder if the people that are reacting with panic are the ones that didn’t do any planning up front.

I receive emails from sellers, buyers and I read message boards on the internet to eavesdrop on the conversations of others. One of the most disconcerting things been watching develop is the amount of people looking for advice regarding their real estate transaction, not from trusted professionals that they’re working with but from strangers.

Considering myself a stranger to anyone that anonymously emails me their dilemma and considering that message boards are laden with strangers, I am astounded that buyers and sellers are asking unqualified strangers for financial and legal advice. How different is posting for help on a message board than walking up to someone at a hardware store and saying, “I’m having trouble keep affording my home, what do you think I should do?”

My own theory is that many of these real estate transactions were impulse buys or even knee jerk reactions to the current events on the news. Some of the pleas for help I’ve read are laced in fear; fear of the market, fear of the economy, fear of fear. Where was the fear when they signed the sale and purchase contract two weeks ago? They were caught up in excitement of buying Florida real estate. Weeks later after a dramatic couple of days on Wall Street, buyer’s remorse set in and panic begins.

It makes me wonder if there was enough research done in preparation to find and buy the real estate in the first place. It makes me wonder if buyers came to town and thought they could score big by scooping up a deal and then reality set in after they got back and they realize that maybe they didn’t do adequate research before they signed on the dotted line.

A few words of advice for anyone buying or selling Bonita Springs real estate especially in these wild financial and real estate times – Do your research. Plan your work, work your plan. This is a business transaction and it needs to be treated as one. Save yourself the anxiety down the road by doing things right.

Get the “what if” questions answered before contract. What if:

• I can’t get a mortgage?
• The buyer backs out of the deal?
• The bank doesn’t take the offer?
• I get buyers remorse and change my mind?
• The property doesn’t appraise?

You need great support in place to get you through whatever process you’re experiencing; buying, selling, short sale or foreclosure. When you have proven, experienced help you won’t have to ask random strangers for their opinion about real estate. You’ll already have sources to count on to answer questions if you’re troubled or encounter problems.

Read also: How Many Foreclosures & Short Sales in Southwest Florida?

Unless someone is handing you the phone number of a proven real estate attorney, lender or real estate agent that you can interview, their opinion of your situation isn’t worth squat.

This may sound simplistic but maybe don’t panic quite as much while you’re watching the news. A lot of times it isn’t really news you’re watching anyway, but it sure sells commercial time. There sure is a lot of drama involved.

Panicking and trying to bail out of a purchase or sale contract because of news or speculation by a chimpanzee with a dart board is almost as dangerous as buying or selling real estate after a life altering, emotional event like death of a spouse or divorce.

Some of the worst financial and legal mistakes get made because vital decisions and choices were made without a true plan, verifying all of the “facts” and getting the guidance of the trusted, professional advisors.

Treat your real estate transaction like a business because that’s what the big boys that you’re dealing with will be doing. The last place you’ll ever want to be is unprepared, on the weak side of a transaction getting strong armed by your adversary’s good plan. One thing’s for sure, your adversary won’t be getting his real estate advice from strangers on the internet.

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Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area.  Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor.  If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.

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Tags: attorney, bad advise, Bonita Springs, crisis, financial planner, florida, foreclosure, lawyer, panic, real estate, short sale, wall street