5 Tips to Help You Find A New Home
Whether or not you are a first time home buyer, finding the best home for the best value could be quite a daunting task. The internet is flooded with all sorts of property listings that you’ll have to spend a lot of time searching and then contacting owners or brokers. Here are some tips to help you through the process:
- Game of Nines — Prepare a list in a table form of at least 9 features that you wish to have in the new house. Call it the game of nines. . . “nine of this and none of that.” As you go along searching the web, choose the properties that you see & use the table as your scorecard to see which ones have the 9 features you listed.
- Check on Your Finances — Your financial situation will spell out how you will be able to purchase the property. You know that cash is always the strongest position to negotiate the purchase. However, if you intend to apply for a home loan, you must contact a lender to help you determine your purchasing power. Your lender will provide you a list of requirements to qualify for a loan. Soon as you pre-qualify, the lender will be able to reveal to you how much you can borrow. From there, you will be able to determine a budget price range. Then, you can narrow down your search again, according to your budget.
- Sell First, Then Buy! — If you must sell or mortgage another property as your source of funds, you must be able to do this first so you can be ready with the funds when it’s time to negotiate the purchase. You will not be in the strongest negotiating position if your source of funds are not readily available. Most sellers don’t have a long waiting time. And, there could be cash buyers out there ready to out bid you.
- Be Realistic — determine whether or not you want a ready to move-in home. There are many factors to consider when buying an existing home, so, don’t set your expectations too high. You’d be the luckiest buyer if you find something that fits like a glove. You will definitely have to consider factoring in renovation costs. On the other hand, if you decide to build from ground up, you must set your timelines from moving out of your current home, or renting a place while the home construction is ongoing, and many other factors.
- Don’t Just Call Ads — while most buyers have the tendency to research on property listings online, consider talking to a real estate broker. Ads don’t tell you everything! Realty companies have good, qualified listings that often don’t need advertising. These listings often go to their Buyer Pools and their Multiple Listing Service (MLS), that are not shared to the public. Many homes were sold without “For Sale” signs or ads ever being put out in the worldwide web. These great deals go to people who are committed to working with real estate professionals. When a broker hears of a good buy, who do you think they’re going to call? Of course, the Buyer who they have a legal obligation to work for! The bottomline is, decide whether you will do this on your own, bearing in mind that you must have an eye to see all through the related drawbacks, details and the emotional stress. When you enlist the services of a realty company, they will do the dirty work for you, from searching through their MLS, cooperating with other realty companies, finding you a lender with the best rates, performing due diligence for the property you have chosen, assisting you in all the paperwork and legal processes. Remember too, that the advertiser represents the seller or are sellers themselves. They do not represent you. Once you engage the services of a broker, you become a client with all the rights, benefits and privileges created by this agency relationship. You are no longer just a shopper. So, hire your own broker or agent to help you decipher all these ads! Let your broker search listings for you, as you can count on them to be on your side, looking out for your best interest. Good luck on your home search!
