Design
“O Romeo, Romeo,
wherefore art thou
Romeo?”
Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2
Some Tips and Guidelines
for Persons dealing with
First Time Buyers:
• First time buyers might miss out on very
basic knowledge in property acquisi-
tion. In addition to selling, you will also
need to inform and educate.
•
The couple now go back to the agents, with a newly found
humbleness and appreciative that the agents are now re-
quired, as Juliet calls out:
The meaning of this being, why are you Romeo as opposed
to being the son of a contractor with property available
for his sons and daughters? The viewing continues until
eventually the couple settle for a property which appears
to present the best value for their bank-promised money.
The Maltese parents are now called in to give their view-
points, and these then proceed to grumble on how small
the property is, how expensive it is, how it will not be pos-
sible to fit in a baby cot within the Master bedroom and
how the couple are not realistically thinking about the fu-
ture and the requirements they will face at that point. Also,
where will the couple be hanging their clothes to dry given
that the roof will be taken by a penthouse? The couple try
to think about possible rebuttals but end up instead look-
ing at each other, on the very verge of breaking down. They
head back (to their parents’) home abashed, disappointed
and unsure about their future.
Only the valiant will now move on and it will take signifi-
cant courage to actually take the plunge. But for the Rome-
os and Juliets that actually do, the toil just goes on. After
spending time negotiating prices with the agent and then
going to the notary only to realise that they will be incur-
ring more expenses through fees and taxes, they then have
to wait more to go from Konvenju to the sale some months
later. The couple now realizes that the property which ap-
peared flawless at the outset now calls for renovation - you
know - because Juliet does not want that wall between the
42
Q 2 , 2017
Having said this, the persons are
not stupid and should not be swindled;
they might have a lower level of exper-
tise in the area compared to yourself
at the outset, but will catch up very
quickly.
•
As a result, treat the persons
involved with respect. While you may be
dealing with your hundredth property,
in most likelihood this will be the only
property the buyers will be picking up.
• Identify the available budget
in such a way as to guide the buyers
appropriately. You can upsell, within
limits.
• If in selling property, it might
make sense to present some compari-
son property with the ‘ideal’ property -
showing only the ideal will not allow the
first time buyer to see the value in the
offering.
• Look into the possibility of
reading Shakespeare and ‘Romeo and
Juliet’ in particular - it will give insight
into the tragedies of life! And after all,
reading Shakespeare is always useful
and insightful.
DESIGN&BUILD