Done with your home searching and researching about Livingston real estate? Did you gather substantial information about the area? If not, then here's a gist, just so you'd know what kind of neighborhood you're gonna be living in next. Livingston was named in honor of William Livingston, the first governor of New Jersey and a framer of the Constitution. Livingston served as governor for 13 terms before he died in 1790?

According to the 2000 census, this town has a population of 27,391 people. Residents here enjoy a very pleasant lifestyle with easy access to New York City and other areas of New Jersey. Interstates 80 and 280, the Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike, and Route 24 are all close to Livingston. It has six elementary schools, two middle schools and a comprehensive high school that received the US Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Award in 1998. The town's recreation program includes two community pools, tennis courts, basketball courts and playgrounds, youth and adult athletics. This small town also boasts of 30 community boards and organizations, a testimony to residents' active lifestyle alongside their social concern - Livingston's unique brand of quality of life. The city has also been hailed by Business Weekly in 2006 as one of the 25 "best affordable suburbs," boasting of low crime rates, above-average schools and a reasonable commute to a major city. Livingston's violent crime rate is 38 on a scale where the US average crime rate is 100. It ranks above average for school test scores, and its median housing price was $514,400.

Enough of the introductions. You should now prepare for that most awaited "occasion" of your home-buying adventure: negotiations. But before proceeding to the seller's house, here are a few characteristics you should know and take with you during the negotiation proper.

1. Be organized and go there prepared. There's no better way to say it, and it's simple as that. Needless to say, go there with your sales agent, this is no time to be a hero/heroine, as if you know what you need to know. This is the stage where your agent can be more useful to you. More than that, sellers sometimes deal with them, rather than directly with the buyer.

2. Be polite. Maybe it's not you, but then again, you're the one who's asking a "favor," not the other way around. It may be a business transaction alright; again, situations like these are done professionally. Never say, "take it, or leave it," that doesn't help; and more often than not, the seller would leave without doing business with you. Follow the flow of things, leave room for negotiation.

3. Please, don't be a bonehead by making a lowball offer. And yes, there are buyers who do so. Don't add insult to injury. Sellers are already struggling these days, but be sure to arrive at a reasonable offer. If you do that, the seller might not only close the deal right away, but may also share with you closing costs and some tangibles in the house.

4. Be confident that you are financially equipped. Hand over to the seller your written offering price along with your approved letter from your lender. You may ask your lender to do so just for this purpose. This is already commendable as you're showing to the seller your sincerity and seriousness in doing business with him/her, and of course, that you have the money to put down as deposit for the house.

5. Be meticulous, but not to a fault. Put everything down in writing and inform the seller that you'll do so. You may ask your real estate agent to help you out with this task. From the closing price, home inspection details, seller's requests, sharing closing costs, to the items that they're going to give you, all these should be written down and signed by all of you concerned and present in that negotiation.

6. Last but not the least, whatever the outcome may be, whether they keys of the house are handed to you or your offer's rejected, still, be amiable. If it's not for you, it won't be for you, as they say. Then again, there are other homes for sale in Livingston real estate, or in any other location for that matter. Don't cry on spilled milk, just continue working on and catching that dream of yours to be a home owner someday.