There are a lot of shady real estate “gurus” out there, but are they really all that knowledgeable? It’s likely that these people are the same “experts” who were giving out advice when the real estate market crashed! Read on to find some useful tips to help you navigate real estate and be a savvy buyer.
When purchasing a house, make sure you have enough room for current and/or future children. Keep safety in mind, as well, particularly if a home has a swimming pool or stairs. A house that was previously owned by a family with children might feature a lot of built-in safety devices.
Be moderate in your real estate negotiations. The worst thing to do is be aggressive with the price. It is good to be assertive with what you expect, though allow your lawyer and Realtor take care of the negotiations, because they have a lot of experience in this type of work.
The Internet can be your best friend when house hunting, so remember to use the net to check out homes and neighborhoods. Almost every town has plenty of information online. Consider the population, unemployment and salary margins before making any purchase to assure that you have a profitable future in that town.
Don’t forget to look at your long-term plans when searching for a new place to live. Take a family, for example. Although you might not have children yet, that doesn’t mean that you won’t want to start a family in the future. This means you should be focusing on a home’s size, the school district, neighborhood safety, and other important factors of raising a family.
Make sure to look towards the future whenever you are in the market for a new house. You may not have any kids at this point in your life but if you plan to live in the home that you are buying now, you may want to look into the schools in the area to be sure that they will do well for any future children you may have.
A good tip to use when shopping for a home is to request an itemized checklist from your Realtor. Get a home buyers checklist from your real estate agent to keep track of all the tasks you need to complete when purchasing a home. These checklists can keep the process on track and make sure everything is taken care of.
Educate yourself on mortgage loan terms before you look into purchasing real estate. If you know how the term of the mortgage ties in with your payment and the final cost of the house, you will not be surprised later.
Closing Costs
When making an offer on the home you’re interested in, ask the seller about financial incentives and closing costs. It is common to ask the seller to “buy down” the interest rate for a year or two. If adding financial incentives to an offer, the seller may not negotiate your selling price, though.
You should have a fund for unexpected costs that present themselves during the buying of property. You can get a good idea of the closing costs if you add the down payment, taxes and what the bank charges. Most the the time closing costs have additional items like improvement bonds, school taxes and other things that relate directly to that particular area.
When interviewing a real estate agent, be sure to have your questions properly planned out. Important questions you need them to answer include how many sales they made over the last year, and how much experience they’ve had in the neighborhood you’re looking at. A good agent will have this information readily available.
You must understand well the terms used in mortgage loans before purchasing a home. Make sure you have a solid grasp of how the terms of a mortgage can affect your mortgage payment and the total price you are going to pay for the home. If these things make sense to you now, it will prevent confusion later.
You should always have your home inspected before you purchase it. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a home that needs complete renovation from the ground up when you weren’t expecting it. In addition to wasting your money, you might even have to rent a place to live while your newly bought house gets worked on.
As mentioned earlier, it is not recommend to put all of your trust in self-proclaimed experts. Their wisdom obviously did not prevent the massive real estate market collapse. To be safe do your own research. Rather, use these helpful tips to buy property.
Take note that most foreclosed homes need repairs, so if you come across one keep that in mind. Most foreclosed homes may have been sitting vacant for some time before going up for sale, meaning that regular maintenance has not been done. Have a qualified home inspector do a thorough examination of the house before you purchase it. It may need a new HVAC system, and could also have a pest infestation.
