This is step 3 in a series of 6 steps to buying a house in Bryan / College Station, TX or the surrounding area. Although these steps are generally accepted throughout the Country, you should check with your local Realtor for relevancy to your particular state.
This step takes place after Step 1 – Hire a Realtor® and Step 2 – Get approved for a loan have occurred. Sometime buyers believe searching for a home should be the 1st step but after reading all three initial steps buyers will understand why they need to be in this order.
3. Begin your home search
With no less than thousands of homes currently for sale in the Bryan / College Station area, looking for that perfect home to buy can be a daunting task. That is why we have created the homebuyers checklist. This list is extensive but it may contain some items you haven’t yet considered. By going through the list and marking off the features that you would like in a home it can make the process of elimination a lot easier. Here is where having a Realtor® in your corner and being pre-qualified by a lender for a home will help.
Your Realtor® can review the list of criteria that you wish for, find which properties are available that fit your list & fall within your price range and email you a list of homes that are available for you to view.
Many times Realtors® will be able to access homes that have recently expired and have not yet been relisted. We can also tell how long a home has been on the market and what special features the seller is willing to convey with the property.
We can also provide you with access to thousands of properties through the advanced search feature on our website and by signing up for email property updates you can be the first to know when a property that fits your criteria becomes available as well as when a seller reduces the asking price for a property.
Once you and your Realtor® have narrowed down the list of possible new home candidates, then your Realtor® can begin to schedule viewings.
Try to view properties when you have plenty of time to really assess the attributes of each home. Also make sure to bring copies of the homebuyers checklist with you so that as you visit each home you can check off on the list which ones have the qualities that you want. It is always a good idea to make some quick notes on each property and / or take pictures so that you can review all the information later. Sometimes after viewing several homes over a period of time it can be difficult to tell them apart. So making notes as you go from house to house will help you remember which homes had which features.
When viewing homes that are occupied or furnished try to imagine the home without the furnishings, instead try to concentrate only on what is actually being sold with the home. Your Realtor® can tell you if that amazing chandelier that you absolutely love is actually being sold with the home or of the seller plans on taking it with them and replacing it with a cheap light fixture.
Wall colors can often be very distracting in a home so try to picture the home in the colors that you want. Changing the color of the walls is a relatively easy & inexpensive fix however it is also something that your Realtor® may be able to negotiate the cost of repainting in your contract.
Knowing the maximum amount that you can get financed for, working with a Realtor® and completing the homebuyers checklist can go a long way in helping you find that perfect home. Not only will you save a lot of time and money but you will also save a lot of frustration and disappointment, otherwise the home search process can be overwhelming and emotionally draining.
Next step covers - Step 4 : Negotiating the Contract
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