Home Buying Tips for Murrieta and Temecula CA Real Estate ?

Buying a Temecula or Murrieta home in a buyer?s market can actually be very challenging for all the exact reasons you might think it will be easy. Remember the goal is to get the best home that meets your goals and represents the best investment for your family. What are some of these buyer market benefits?

- Ultra high supply of home listings - Good ability to negotiate price and terms - High competition between sellers

No matter how you slice it those bullet points are a great thing for buyers, right? Believe it or not this can cause a lot of hesitation and consternation for buyers. How so you ask? Let?s say you find the ideal Temecula home in a wonderful neighborhood on a perfect cul-de-sac street and filled with lots of upgrades. You love the layout but the owners are stuck on price and just two streets away is the exact same floor plan, not as nice of a home in terms of lot and upgrades, and the street isn?t a cul-de-sac but the price is 30k less. And then just another street away is another model match with no upgrades, stained carpet, and priced 15k less.

Now you think how nice it would be to get the first home for less but the seller?s won?t budge and honestly it is priced fair when considering all variables. In fact, since it is a down market, it is lower priced then it has been in years. But were are in a buyer?s market and it is galling to pay 45k more! And witth just an additional 10-15k, you feel like you could rehab the cheapest model match and still have a nice home. So, after a lot of soul searching you make an offer on the lowest model match and figure you will fix it up. By paying 45k less and putting in 10k, you save 35k in theory for the same neighborhood and house just a few streets away.

This sounds like a great idea but the problem is that once you move in, you have a hard cost to you to make repairs versus a simple increased payment. So you get a equity loan or tap your savings and put 10k into the property and get all new carpet, paint, and some tile in the bathrooms. That?s it and you have burned all that cash. You also live there for the average of 3-5 years and have ?elbow grease? projects every weekend. While fun at first, this gets old fast and you are tired of cars buzzing through the street and constantly wish you were on the cul-de-sac. You also feel uncomfortable inviting people over until you get it all ?fixed? and thus are not enjoying the house as much as you planned.

This may sound worst case scenario but I have seen this several times this year alone. The real sad part is 35k (45K ? 10K) more would have cost an average of $210 more a month. Over 5 years that will finally equal the 10k you put into the bargain property and you have had to work every weekend, haven?t enjoyed the house, never invited people over, or even had a weekend BBQ!

Also, no matter what you put into the home, you can never equal the home with the better lot, upgrades, and incredible cul-de-sac street. That could be your kids playing neighborhood basketball safely or your family enjoying a safe block party. After 3 years you have grown tired of worrying each time your kids go out to play due to drive through traffic and decide to sell the house. Guess what? The market is still a tough and people are very picky, looking for that perfect, upgraded, cul-de-sac home you passed on!

This article is an example of a buyer seeing high inventory and pricing deals but losing common sense and thereby making a bad decision. How many times have you seen people get caught up in major sales and buy something they don?t even want because it was such a good deal? This is happening a lot right now and it gets worse if a person waits three years and finds they can?t afford to sell the house at that time. Then they continue to be stuck in a home that they do not like when the could of really enjoyed and been proud of a home they purchased in the first place.

Looking for a diamond in the rough is savvy. But don?t forget your goals amid all the Temecula and Murrieta home listings and price drops. Don?t be disappointed if someone won?t come down in price. Just make sure your Murrieta or Temecula real estate broker does the necessary property research and enables you to discern a fair or even aggressive price for that perfect home.