Never Understate Your Budget

Roanoke Real Estate Podcast with Damon Gettier

When searching for a home, never understate your budget. What I mean by that is if you can afford a $200,000 house, tell your agent you can afford a $200,000 house. Not being honest and upfront with your agent about your finances can lead to unnecessary headaches and wasted time. For example, we recently worked with a husband and wife who said their budget to buy a house was $145,000. The wife preferred that budget because she didn’t want to spend over $1,000 for their monthly mortgage payment. However, this couple also wanted a house with land to expand on and one that didn’t need any repairs. In this market, that’s not a realistic expectation. “Never understate your budget.” After looking at houses for a day and not finding anything, the husband called us on their way back home and revealed that, though their budget was set at $145,000, they could actually afford to spend as much as $200,000. That’s a 33% difference in sales price. What we couldn’t find at $145,000 we could find multiple examples of at $200,000. They wasted a whole day looking for something that was unattainable, and they drove about 600 miles to do it. On top of that, our agent told them what they were looking for was unattainable. So, be honest and upfront with your agent about what you can afford so the two of you can work together as a team. As always, if you have any other questions about this topic or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you.