Are you in the market for buying a luxury home? You may not know that having a significant amount of wealth in your life is not the only factor for affordability. People of all incomes can afford “luxury” so take a look at our tips for buying a luxury home. You may be surprised by what you read!
“What is Luxury?”
Honestly, luxury is what you make it to be. If you lived in a run down studio apartment and moved to a small two bedroom house in a decent area of town… Well, that would be luxurious to you. Don’t think that just because you don’t have a six figure income that you can’t live in the home you want, within reason of course! You probably won’t have a tennis court or a staff kitchen though…
Let’s get to it: Tips for buying a luxury home!
1. You can’t use just any real estate agent. If we’re talking multi-million dollar homes you’re going to need a real estate agent that specializes in selling upscale properties. Think about it… Anyone selling their $10m home isn’t going to list it publicly and isn’t going to work with just anyone. In this case you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is and seek out a home through a particular type of agent. A quick internet search will give you a good list of teams to contact and weed out some of the others. Most Realtors that don’t have luxury listings won’t waste their time saying they do.
2. Take a good look at all the photos before you opt for a showing. Luxury homes typically have a lot to offer. Take a look at each and every image you can. Better that than taking an hour out of your day just to walk through the downstairs area! Like any home buyer, you want to make sure your real estate agent knows what you want and what you can’t live without. Make sure you’re shown photos of those things on your “must have” list.
3. Have someone you trust do a walk through before you do. That person can be a personal assistant or better yet, a contractor you hire. Your goal here is to have someone that knows what you want be able to spot the things you will and won’t like. A contractor is nice because they can spot potential issues. A personal assistant is nice because they know you well. Rather than take the time to walk around ten potential homes, having someone else take a first run can leave you with less to do. As noted in the previous tip, most of these homes we’re talking about are large. They have a lot of features. Showing one can take hours. It’s just not that practical to see a bunch of them in person.
Privacy Matters
4. Protect your privacy. Any real estate agent in the luxury home market should know the value of your privacy. These aren’t agents that are out to make a quick buck in any way possible (be aware of that though). Make sure you ask who has access to the current pictures of the property. Also make sure you’re aware of the sale record of the home and that your investment isn’t going to be listed publicly. This is very important when we’re talking about security. Real estate scams are real and don’t just affect renters or urban buyers and sellers. If you’re buying a home that a lot of people have previously had access too… Well, you want to know about it. Who has pictures of your potential new front door? Or information about the security features of the home you’re about to buy?
5. Make a list of changes you want to make on your potential buy. How are those baseboards looking to you? If you don’t like the style it’s going to be a big investment to remove them from the entire house. I’ve walked in to gorgeous homes but gasped at what I need to do to make it my own. Anyone with the means to make an extravagant purchase has spent a lot of money to “build” it in their style. And you’ll likely do the same. But un-doing someone else’s style can be a major headache if they’ve gone a little overboard. $50k in altercations may not seem like a big deal when you’re home costs $5 million but, wouldn’t you rather do something else with that cash?
Buying a luxury home of any type is going to set you back some major dinero but follow our tips for buying a luxury home to make it that much easier on yourself! Questions or comments? Drop us a line!
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