So, you want to buy a home? This may or may not be the place to begin. If you are looking in Washington DC or the nearby Maryland suburbs, please, by all means keep reading. If your search is elsewhere, you might be better served to access information from an agent that actually works in your area.
All pertinent real estate information is local. Sure, the basic steps may be the same from one coast to another, but nuances and idiosyncrasies are local in nature. The best example is how network news is shared every night. You have the local news that focuses on your communities and then you have the national news that focuses on the nation and even the world.
You want to buy a home? Focus on your neighborhoods.
OK, now that I have established the ground rules, let's take a look at the process as it exists mid-summer 2013 (Necessary reference point because real estate markets and trends change rapidly...)
If you have saved enough money or your parents plan on helping you make the move, you are on solid enough ground to move your purchase plans from watching HGTV and searching all the home for sale websites to actually sitting down and discussing your plans with a me. If you happen to remain in that "hope and prayer" group that spends hours looking for down payment assistance or a quick easy no cash out of pocket home purchase... call someone else, I can not help you.
How much is enough money? Well, you actually need to sit down and talk with a lender. A good lender (local preferred) will go over your income, assets and liabilities. They will actually give you a general idea of how much home you can afford. They can tell you how much you can buy based on how much you actually can afford to spend on a home. (Tip: do not plan on spending more than 28% of your monthly income on a home)
My time is as valuable as yours and I only work with serious purchasers. They deserve and receive my complete focus. Serious buyers have done the hard part of saving and putting themselves in the best position to buy a home. There are a dirth of agents out there that will work with anyone. I just don't happen to be one of those agents.
Today's successful buyer has to be ready to act quickly. The relationship between active inventory and qualified buyers is out of balance. There are several qualified buyers available for every single home on the market. Decent homes (and even those in serious need of rehabbing) come on the market and within weeks, if not days, multiple offers are made. You have to lay the groundwork ahead of time so that when the right home comes along, you can have an offer presented. The stronger the offer, the better your chances. The best offer is not the highest offer. The best offer dovetails with the hidden hot spots relating to the seller. Knowing the hot spots and how to hit them comes from experience.
Experience in crafting and presenting offers is my bailiwick. My expertise is not in finding that right home for you. Anyone can locate desireable homes for sale. Online search sites are as plentiful as grains of sand on the beach. Some are good, some are bad but the majority of them provide enough information to whet a buyer's whistle. Most sites pull their information via syndication with the multiple listing service. Finding possible homes is not the challenge. You can even use mine ZillowDC.com
I earn my money by visiting homes with you, pointing out the positives and negatives, looking for tell tale signs of problems, evaluating the market that day for that house, assisting you with the preparation of an offer, negotiating a ratified contract and overseeing the process from ratification to closing. My job is to assist my clients in making an informed decision. My goal is to sit beside them as they receive the keys to their new home at settlement.
There is absolutely nothing I do that can be accomplished by a novice. My skills have been garnered through dealing with hundreds of transactions and sharpened through years of experience.
So, you want to buy a home? If you are ready to actually take that step, you can choose to step out into the home buying world armed with knowledge gathered through various websites (if so, tread lightly, you will be spending somewhere between $500,000 and $1,000,000 of your future earnings) or you can request the assistance of an experienced professional.
Remember, in the DC area, the numbers are stacked against you. There is significant competition for every home. Home prices are not going down and interest rates are not remaining low. If you are ready, the time is now, give me a call. I will gladly listen to every thing you have to say. I will offer advice. If you are ready and actually in a postion to move forward, I will offer my assistance.
The choice is yours. You want to buy a home? Call me. My direct number is 301-509-5111
Comments(0)