Decide Your Number Before You Walk In
Picture a woman named Corinne who finds a house she loves in a hill town abroad. The owners are an older couple selling because the stairs have become too much, and the market has been slow for two years.
Before they go back for a second visit, Corinne and her husband Eli sit in the car outside and decide three things: the price they would be glad to pay, the price at which they would walk away, and what has to come with the house, such as the furniture and the washing machine. They write the numbers on the back of an envelope.
Inside, Eli wants to say it is perfect. They agreed to say that later. Instead they ask about the house: who built it, what the winters are like, which of the trees the owners planted. The owners light up. For an hour nobody mentions money.
Corinne makes an offer six percent under the asking price. The owners counter. The counter is inside her range, and she and Eli say they would like to think overnight. In the morning, they accept at three percent under, with the furniture included.
Nobody in this story is an opponent. The owners want to sell to someone who will love the house, and Corinne wants to buy it. The envelope let her be friendly and still know her limit, because the numbers were already decided before she went in.
You may think it is cold to walk in with a walk-away number. In this story it kept the conversation on the house and the people who lived in it, because the money question was already answered.
In another country, a few more questions belong on the envelope. How does a foreign buyer pay? Who handles the title, and who checks it? Who pays the transfer costs? Some places will not lend to foreign buyers at all, so a buyer may need to bring the money. Corinne asked a local lawyer all four before she made her offer.
You could write your own envelope before you visit a house you like: the price you would be glad to pay, the price at which you would walk away, and what must come with it. You could also write the first questions for a local lawyer.
Our calculator helps from the other side. It shows how much money a way of living needs, so you can see how much of your total a house could use.
What number would you decide on before you walked into a house you loved? Tell us in the comments. Someone reading may be standing in a doorway right now.
Tell us in the comments