Is being a first-time buyer going to hurt my negotiating position?
Thanks to Annie of Trulia Voices for this one. The short answer is, of course it is. If the seller finds out you are a novice buyer, they will likely try to put one over on you.
Even if they don’t find out, as a rookie, you probably can’t move very quickly, so you’ve lost one weapon — speed — that it would be nice to have in your arsenal.
However, don’t fret over what you can’t change.
Since that sounds kinda grim, let me give you the #1 negotiating tip for any buyer:
Fall in love with TWO homes.
Why? because if negotiations are going to be easy, they’re going to be easy. If they’re going to be difficult . . . well, you’ve fixed things up a little bit.
If you love just ONE house, you are stuck with a psychologically loaded choice - “I buy house A on the seller’s terms and become a homeowner, or I stick to my guns and don’t buy it. But then I’ve FAILED to become a homeowner.”
If they turn out to be difficult, and you followed Front Porch advice and love TWO houses, your choice becomes “I buy house A on the seller’s terms and become the homeowner of house A, or I could stroll off and buy house B over here .. .”
See how much better that is?