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Tips for Buying a Home
Because most people's requirements and situation are
unique, this section is, only, presented to serve as
a basic guide with some general suggestions.
Before you even begin looking at advertisements of homes
for sale or contact a realtor, we would suggest that
you come up with a proposed monthly budget, and decide
exactly how much you can afford to invest in your home
every month. For most people, it's the monthly payment
that matters, not the actual sales price.
Once you have come up with an amount to go towards housing,
break down that amount into it's various components.
This should include:
- Principal & Interest on your new loan
- Taxes
- Homeowners insurance
- Utilities
- Association fees/Common charges if necessary
- Maintenance
- Repairs allowance
At this point you should have a figure in mind to put
towards loan payments and other monthly expenses.
Don't fall into the trap of buying more house than you
can afford. By doing this you can become a slave to
your house payments. Don't do it, it's no way to live.
Decide what you can comfortably afford and then stick
to it.
Next, you should obtain a copy of your personal credit
report. You might be surprised at how much erroneous
information it might contain. The wrong information
could prevent you from obtaining the most favorable
financing and could even force you to default on a contract.
Before you begin to go out looking at homes, you should
also sit down with a few loan officers and get pre-approved
for a loan. Not only will this give you an opportunity
to shop the best rates and loan terms for your needs.
But, more importantly, having a pre-approved loan commitment
gives you a lot more leverage when negotiating the purchase
of your new home.
The next you need to consider is exactly what type of
home would best suit your needs, and what type of amenities
would make you happy.
One way to do this is to make a wish list. On a sheet
of paper and draw a line right down the middle and label
the left column "must have" and the right
column "would like".
Sit down and think about your family size and the type
of lifestyle you live. Then come up with the items for
each column, place them on the paper in their respective
column, in order of importance, from top to bottom.
Go through the "must have" column a second
time, move anything that you can live without to the
"would like" column.
Now go through both lists and decide based on your housing
budget if the items on those lists are realistic. You
must be honest with yourself. If any items are unrealistic
given your price range and your local housing market,
eliminate them.
At this point you should know exactly how much you can
invest in your new home, and be prepared to start looking.
As much fun as it may be, don't go out looking at homes
that are our of your budget, it will only make you feel
disappointed later, and leave you with the feeling that
you settled for less. Also, If you have a house that
you need to sell before you can buy your new home, don't
even go out looking until you have sold your present
home. Many times people find a house, fall in love with
it and then lose it because they have not sold their
present home yet. Or worse, try and carry two homes
at the same time. That gets very expensive.
A few suggestions when buying a home:
Next, keep in mind, there is no such thing as "the
perfect house". Buying a home, for most people,
is a series of compromises. You may have to trade off
that extra bedroom to get that in-ground pool, entertainment
room, etc. Keep in mind, your goal is to try to find
the most features that you want without going over your
budget.
When looking for a new home, you should understand that
the best thing you can do is attain the assistance of
a good, qualified realtor. This will save you considerable
time and money in the long run. A good realtor will
ask you all the necessary questions abour your budget,
needs and prefrences and they will do the hunting and
looking for you and present you with those homes that
best fit your budget and needs.
The other item to consider is that newspaper ads rarely
tell the whole story. If you start going around just
looking at homes from ads in the paper, you're going
to have a long, long search.
Remember the best place to look for a home is still
through a good Realtor. Most are connected to a computerized
multiple listing service and can easily pull up every
home in your price range in a couple of minutes. You
can then go through each listing and choose the homes
that you are interested in seeing. It's a lot easier
to spend an hour in the office looking at all the homes
for sale, than it is to spend 3 months looking at only
some of them. This way you can easily find the right
house for you, quickly and comfortably. And by looking
at all the homes available and comparison shopping,
you can also find the best deal.
Realtors in Las Vegas, not only have all of the resale
houses on their computer system, but they also maintain
a database of all the new homes for sale as well.
A good realtor will also know who currently has the
best loan and title rates, and will be familiar with
all the paperwork and legal niceties involved. Only
you can decide the right home for you. Our philosophy
has always been that " whatever which home someone
buys, they're happy with it". A realtors job is
to help you get it.
When looking at a home, don't worry about things you
can change later; paint, carpeting, drapes, decorating,
etc. Be concerned with the things that you can't change;
location, lot size, number of bedrooms, square footage,
etc.. When looking at each home ask yourself: "Would
I be happy here?" That's what's really important.
Not whether or not it's a good deal. I know this sounds
odd, but think about it. What's the point of saving
a few thousand dollars now (which on your loan payment
is only about $30 a month anyway) if you're miserable
in your own home for the next five years.
When making an offer on a property, be fair, low-balling
usually won't get you anywhere, and we've even seen
owners refuse to sell to certain people at any price
because they were insulted.
Talk things over with your realtor, after looking around,
you'll find that you've gotten a pretty good idea of
values and you'll be able to make your offer accordingly.
Also It's a very good idea to have the house inspected
by a professional so as to make sure you won't have
any problems later.
The day before closing and taking possession, you should
go through and make a final inspection of your new home.
Check everything: run all the appliances, test all the
outlets, make sure everything in the house works perfectly.
Before it's yours.
These are just some basic concepts to be considered
when buying a home. The technical aspects such as contracts,
escrow, title, insurance, impounds, Finance, etc., are
different for everyone, and need to be addressed on
an individual basis.
Once again, if you are planning on purchasing a home
in the Las Vegas area, please contact a qualified realtor
for an appointment. They can sit down with you, determine
your needs, and evaluate your personal situation. This
way you'll be able to find just the right home, and
get settled into it, with the least cost and inconvenience
to you.
Wanna learn some Real Estate Terms?
Choose a link below.
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