Googling for dollars
hossmaster wrote:
What is most striking to me is the lack of information typically provided by buyers' agents. Very few if any buyers' agents do any homework on sellers. For example, when I am interested in a home I have looked at, I always do some basic intel on the seller, usually by plugging in the address in the registry of deeds (all of which are online and free, and easy to use). There I obtain the seller's name and, perhaps more importantly for negotiation purposes, the amount of seller's outstanding mortgages on the property, as well as any tax liens or other "interesting" information that bear on the seller's motivations. I also Google the seller's name to see if anything useful comes up in local news or other online publications (e.g., criminal convictions or lawsuits, or other incidents that might influence the terms of sale)… Hell, it's even kinda fun.
Knowing this information can gain you a small negotiating edge. Look for anything that points to the seller having a compelling need to sell, a psychological or true economic price limit, or a need to close on a specific date.
T
Find out if the seller has already bought another property. If so, figure the PITI on it.
Figure the seller’s monthly costs for the current house, including heat if it is empty in the winter.
Figure out if the seller is close to break-even on the property, or behind. A seller with lots of equity has more wiggle room.
Find out where the seller works. Check to see if the company is in trouble.
But don't place all your confidence in what you find online, either. It's important to remember that you are only seeing raw data, and not true information. The data still need to be interpreted, and it's easy to interpret them incorrectly. You may know that the seller's mortgage is underwater. Do you know the rest of his financial status? Is he qualified for a bailout program? Is he late on payments?
However, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Consider that the seller may be Googling you! Unless you own other property, it is harder to find as much on your ordinary debt and credit. Sellers may check your employment and your general credibility.
Long before you start your home search, tune into what your on-line data says about you. For the love of everything holy, please take stupid things off the internet.
Do not post on Facebook about: loving a certain neighborhood, having a landlord from hell, needing to move before the pregnancy starts to show, or anything else that speaks to your motivation.
Remove embarrassing things that could make the seller think you are too foolish to own a house.
