A Day in Life

It is sunny outside and the children back to school. On a typical day, I’ll have a couple of appointments if there are no closing or signing of contracts and the rest of the day will be time spending on connecting with friends on social media, and hanging out with my family or friends in my neighborhood.

Last week after a couple of appointments, I brought my daughter Rayna to the Turtleback Zoo in West Orange. This girl sure loves the zoo. It is great to see her eyes light up from llamas to turtles, bison, white wolves and the birdhouse. Her favorite was the birds. With a little time on the carousel and a treat, it was time to say goodbye after three hours at the zoo.

We had a great time and she did gain an experience and daddy time for the day. It is interesting to see how kids do not whine or complain after we, the parents, give them the attention they long for and deserve. It is always important to remember it is not material things they want -- it is our time with them.

I began to think about how veteran homebuyers and first-time homebuyers are so different in the way they look at home buying.

Veteran (not the first time) homebuyers have more experience and are less nervous when it comes to looking at repairs and cosmetic corrections needed in a home. While first-time homebuyers are afraid to make mistakes, they are nervous when it comes to addressing the "faults" in an existing home they are buying.

Sometimes they forget that all existing homes do have some required repair work. There are no 100% perfect homes in the market. Would it be silly to lose a great home just because the boiler or the wood floor is old? With some negotiation techniques and know how, there are ways to get the price for repair during the home buying process.

This is where the job of a realtor comes in handy for first time homebuyers or veteran homebuyers. You need a negotiator to help you out and help you see beyond what you can’t see. We, the realtors, have seen a lot of houses and know where the market is trending.

This thought brings me back to our trip to the zoo. When Rayna tried to feed the birds the first time, she was really nervous. The "what if" kept going through her mind. With a little coaching and encouragement from me, she was able to bypass the fear and enjoy her time with the birds.

In fact, she had the most fun at the birdhouse … feeding and running after the different species of birds. She conquered fear easily.

Are you a first-time home buyer, seeking to relocate to Livingston? Or are you renting now and you are still afraid to take the step of becoming a first-time homeowner? Let me encourage you with this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He said: fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.