Tips on Home Buying
Monday, October 28, 2013
Buying a home is a time filled with many emotions, questions, a little stress, and plenty of excitement. To make your house hunt go smoothly follow these tips on home buying:
- Buy a home that you can afford. The best way to determine what price range you should shop in is to get pre-approved. A pre-approval means that a financial institution has looked at your employment, income, credit history and debt to determine your credit worthiness. While a pre-approval is not the final word in the financial aspects of your home ownership, you can feel confident shopping within the range that your financial institution provides. With that said, it is also wise to look slightly above your range. This sometimes means that you can get a better house with more amenities for a decent price. Even if your real estate agent isn't able to negotiate a lower price, every $1,000 only adds $6 - $7 to your monthly mortgage payment.
- Do your homework before putting in an offer. Knowing a little bit about the market, the neighborhood and the surrounding homes can help you make a better decision. For example, you may want to buy a home in a great school district. Since this is an important factor to many people, homes in an area with a strong school district have a better resale value.
- Insist on a home inspection. Most homebuyers are in the home on one to three occasions for approximately 30 minutes each time prior to putting in an offer. Not only is that not enough time to completely assess the home, most people are unaware of what items are crucial to look at. Hiring a licensed inspector helps to ease the fears of hidden concerns by performing a thorough examination. The inspector will look at all of the mechanical systems and structural components in the home.
While purchasing a home can be filled with anxious moments, having a real estate professional and using the tips on home buying can save you the stress of going in uninformed and under-represented. The joys of home ownership are definitely worth taking the time to study and select the right people to help you through every step of the process. Welcome home will soon become your favorite phrase!
