Knowing the honest truth prior to buying a home will ensure that your home buying experience will be a joyful one, while keeping stress to a minimum.
1. You MUST be Pre Approved – A critical first step. As a Buyer, you need to know your home buying power (how much home you can afford). The only way to do this is to get pre-approved Pre-approval requires a mortgage lender to review your credit, income, and assets. This is not a casual conversation with a lender about what you think your credit is and how much money you make. The lender must review your documentation with their own eyes. This is the only way in which to obtain a Pre Approval.
2. Don’t expect to look at homes until you’ve been Pre Approved – You nor the real estate agent wants to waste time looking at homes priced higher than what you can’t afford or losing the home you love because the Sellers require Pre Approvals with all offers to purchase and you didn’t have it completed prior to your home search. Nothing is worse than having candy dangled in front of you only to later realize it’s out of reach and never can be yours. came prepared, submitted an offer and the Seller accepted the offer; meaning you lost the home you wanted to buy.
3. Know that your money will only buy so much – Look at homes priced at what your money can buy. Don’t look at homes priced above what you can afford and think you can submit a lowball offer to see if it sticks.
4. The local Real Estate market must be known – What prices are homes being sold for, how fast are homes selling, what’s the inventory level, what type of market is it, where is the market headed and what benefits/disadvantages does a city hold are all important to know about the local market where you want to buy a home. Make sure your real estate agent can provide you with the information about your local market.
5. You will need to not only negotiate, but also compromise to get the home you want – This same advice applies to and is provided to home sellers. You have to come to a mutual agreement when one party is selling and the other party is buying, it’s going to require some give and take from both parties. It’s not the time to dig in your heels all the way on all the items. A little bit of compromise can go a long way in getting you the home you’ll love to live in.
6. Don’t risk the home you love, over a little bit of money – Expect negotiations in a home sale. Do you really want to bicker over $1000 or so dollars and then refuse to let anyone change your mind?! Keep in mind that $1,000 makes about a $5-7 difference in your mortgage payment. With that in mind is it worth losing a home you love over $7 bucks a month? Take a step back and re-evaluate what the home has to offer and could you find it easily elsewhere for a $1000 or so less? Set aside emotions and look at the true picture. And as always, listen to the Realtor you hired to advise you. They should have valuable insight to guide you.
7.Expect the home will need some repairs – I’ve yet to see a home that doesn’t have a dozen or more things that need addressing. Don’t fret over the little things. Be more concerned about any major needed repairs and how they can be resolved. Do not expect that the Seller will issue you a credit or complete all of the repairs the Inspector notes. However, asking for a seller contribution is fair.
8. Practice the skill of visualization – See beyond the clutter and purple painted walls to buy a home the other Buyer can’t envision. Walls can be painted. You need to have vision. It’s all about seeing beyond the ghastly painted wall and clutter to be able to put it all into a visual form that you’ll love. Nothing a bit of paint and cleaning can’t do to fix, which is easy on the pocketbook.
9. A well maintained home will demand more money from you – Do you love that home that you just looked at and want to buy? It was obvious how well cared for the home was as everything was orderly, neat and clean; just the home for you! This will not be the home you’ll get at a discount. These type of homes draw prospective buyers like bees to honey. Prepare your offer to be competitive, because if you don’t there’s another buyer standing in the wing ready to offer for this pristine home.
10. The Real Estate contract deadlines matter – Your Realtor should be well aware of contractual deadlines to make sure you’re aware of them. Or if you’re using an Attorney, they’ll advise you the same. Contractual deadlines are legal time periods in which you need to provide a condition, as per the contract. Mess with the deadlines and missing them can jeopardize the home sale along with your escrow deposit. Make sure you follow them and that the Realtor you hire advises accordingly. This is not an attempt to provide legal advice as only an Attorney can provide such advice.
11. Buying a home at fair market value is a good thing – Real Estate is considered a great investment. You don’t always have to purchase a home 10%-20% below market value for it to be a good thing. Present your best offer after careful review with your Realtor based upon recent, comparable homes sales. If the Seller has hired a knowledgeable Realtor, their home should be priced right and will likely draw many eligible prospective Buyers.
12. Real Estate contract deadlines matter – Your Realtor should be well aware of contractual deadlines and make sure you’re aware of them. Contractual deadlines are legal time periods in which you need to provide a condition, as per the contract. Mess with the deadlines and missing them can jeopardize the home sale along with your earnest money deposit. Make sure you follow them and that the Realtor you hire advises accordingly.
13. A skilled Realtor is worth their weight in gold – Buying a home is one of life’s most important events and biggest financial transactions. Don’t trust it to just anyone. Do your homework. Choose your Realtor wisely. Are they skilled at selling homes? Try googling their name; what do you find? Or are they a Realtor who relies on a whole lotta hope and keeping their fingers crossed?! Keep in mind with real estate number of years in the business does not equate to knowledge. Check their reviews from prior customers, which should be available online.
Bottom Line
Understand these cold hard home buying facts and you’re well on your way to buying a home you’ll love.
Click Here To Get Pre-approved online or Text apply@blissslife to 4842
© 2017, Tonya Brown. All rights reserved
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