Take The Best Home Buying Steps

Take The Best Home Buying Steps

Lender Interviewing.
Call three or more lenders to get a good idea what they individually have to offer. Different loan officers will have unique qualifications, programs, experiences, and rates that you need to know about. Begin by looking for lenders who work directly with the financial institutions. Direct lenders don't have a middle man, who also want a commission in addition to what you're already paying for the original loan officer. Try to use a loan officer with a minimum of two years experience in their profession. Also use someone who is local if possible, which is not a must, but can come in handy when you consider that you may want to stop in and visit them in person.

Get The Prequalification Letter Before Looking At Homes.
It can be hard to resist the temptation to look for houses and then get a loan. However doing so puts the buyer in a situation where they've found the house, but cannot submit an offer because they don't have proof that they qualify to buy the house. Getting a loan can sometimes be really quick, but more often it takes time because there's different paperwork that has to be submitted to the loan officer before a prequalification letter can be granted.

Write Up A Want List.
Consider everything you want in a house. Not only what area, condition, number of stories and age the house should be, but also the amenities, like: a fireplace, patio, handicapped access, rv access, granite counter tops, tile flooring, pool, hot tub, etc. Spend a little bit of time making a list of the most important aspects of what your house will have and put them in order of importance on a piece of paper. Chances are, you probably won't get everything you want in any one house, but the list will help you get the closest match in the shortest possible time and your agent will find this information very helpful.

Use A Good Real Estate Agent.
Select an agent who has experience in both buying and selling properties and works full time. Part time agents can only represent you a few hours out of the day because they are working an eight our shift doing another job that has nothing to do with your real estate needs. Also, if you decide to use a friend or family member as your agent and they don't have experience, you may find yourself in a situation where your agent does not know how to find the best properties, cannot negotiate deals and may not even be sure how to fill out the purchase agreement. Just like with most careers, what they teach in the colleges and what they test on to get the license are very different from working hands on in the field. It takes experience to really get it down to a science.

Go Looking At Homes.
You don't want to waste your time putting in offers on houses that you're going to change your mind on later because the home inspector found out there is a crack in the ceiling and the hall toilet won't flush. When you go to a house, pretend you are the inspector. When you are outside the house, look for cracks around the base of thouse and look up at the roof to see if it's peeling, warping or cracking. When you go inside, check every corner of every room, starting from ceiling to floor. Sometimes sellers will paint the inside of a house to keep buyers from noticing there was a leak from the roof, but if you look carefully, you can often see little cracks left behind from water damage. They also may forget to paint inside the closets, where water damage may be visible, so peek in and look up at the ceiling for anything suspicious. Also, go around the house running all the sinks and flushing the toilets. Put your hands up to all window sills and feel for a breeze, then make sure they open and close without any major problems. Continue to generally look for anything else that may by amiss.

When Putting In An Offer.
Find out if there are any other offers on the property you want, and if so, how many. If you find that you are among a large number of buyers and there are not enough houses on the market to go around, you have some competition. When this happens, putting in offers above the listing price is always recommended. Everyone wants a good deal on a house, but after putting in one offer after another and watching them get rejected in deja vu fashion, you will become discouraged and may give up on your dream to buy a house altogether, which is unfortunate and unnecessary. If you are in a market where housing prices are still low, don't be afraid to go up on your price.