It is no secret that selling apartments is usually a profitable business. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of profit, some sellers are ready to go for dishonest tricks. What you need to know in order to buy what you need when buying real estate, and not what the seller is trying to sell off?
1. Creating a favorable environment. Our opinion about housing can be significantly influenced not only by its price and location of the house, but also by such details as smell, light, condition of the entrance, etc.
- Trying to convince you to buy this particular living space, the seller of the apartment can attract your attention by decorating the entrance. A neat rug at the door, plants on the window in the entrance, the absence of cigarette butts and garbage - all this can be the result of the tireless activity of the owner of the living space. To make sure that the entrance is really clean and comfortable, do not be too lazy to walk up the stairs to the upper floors (or go down if you came by elevator). It is also worth coming to the entrance without the owner (say, 2-3 days after the inspection).
- Pleasant smells will also help to make square meters more attractive: if the apartment smells of coffee or pastries, then the visitor gets the impression that this is not just an apartment, but a really cozy home.
- If you were invited to inspect the living space at night (by the way, it is more correct to inspect the property before dark, and yet there are different situations), then you can hide the possible shortcomings of the room with the help of diffused, weak light. In addition, pretty lampshades and floor lamps give the home a lived-in and cozy look. If you think that something is wrong with the wallpaper, furniture, or something else, just ask to reschedule the inspection for daylight hours. Another factor in favor of viewing during the day: the view from the window. And arriving at the house in the early evening, you can estimate how many traffic jams can await you on the way from work if you decide to settle in this area. In the late evening, there are usually almost no traffic jams, and the view from the window cannot be appreciated, and the living space cannot be considered in all details.
- You can hide flaws in other ways: new wallpapers will hide traces of mold or fungus on the walls, an uneven floor can lurk under the rug in the bathroom, and posters often hide stains on wallpaper, crumbling plaster, chips on tiles or wall panels.
2. Psychological impact. Trying to get the maximum benefit, the landlord may try to force you to make a rash decision to purchase square meters.
- Time frame. If you are told that you must purchase a home right now (“no later than Monday”, “before the 1st”, etc.), otherwise, for one reason or another, the price per square meter will increase, then you are definitely faced with an attempt to manipulate.
- other clients. This option is also possible: you come to inspect the living space, and other potential customers come almost simultaneously with you. If newcomers frankly admire the apartment, ignoring the shortcomings (for example, they praise the view from the windows, a large kitchen or a good layout, not paying attention to the deplorable state of plumbing, low ceilings or lack of repair), then it is very likely that you are front men. Their task is to create artificial demand, to interest you, to arouse excitement, so that in the end you make a deal on favorable terms for the seller. After all, this living space, it turns out, is attractive to many, has a lot of advantages, which means it is worth the money that the owner asks for.
3. Money issue. If you decide to buy an apartment on the secondary market without intermediaries, then it is worth hiring a lawyer or a realtor to check documents, legal cleanliness of housing and other delicate moments. Since we are not talking about full transaction support, but about partial verification, third-party commissions will also be relatively small.
- Competition. It happens that the owner of square meters, having set a certain price, later insists on raising it, citing the fact that another client offered a higher price.
- special circumstances. Another option: the seller insists on raising the price due to some reasons that put pressure on him (for example, one of the family members or spouse falls ill, after learning about the sale of housing, he demands to get a larger amount for it). Circumstances may be very different, but an honest seller will not resort to such tricks.
- If the price is markedly below market for no apparent reason, chances are that the seller is a scammer who intends to close the deal quickly and get the money and then go into hiding, leaving the buyer to deal with the real owner or other buyers who also made a deal with the villain.
The basic rules are as follows: do not pay for the inspection, do not leave a deposit of more than 5-7% of the cost of housing, do not give money to the other party without a contract. When giving an adequate deposit, do not forget to document this.
Be careful and persistent: meticulousness at the acquisition stage is a guarantee of a profitable and successful purchase.
