Home Buying Tips to Remember

When buying a home, the Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared" is something that will help you find that dream home and help you avoid future situations.

1. Write down all your wants and needs in two different columns. The first column is needs, the must haves. The second column is the wants; they would like but are not required. Finding a home with all your needs can be easy; it is the wants that are usually the hard part. I suggest to my clients we narrow down the search to find the homes with all the needs they require. Then we can start to narrow down the homes by looking for the wants or that can have the wants added later with ease.
   
   
2. Find a Real Estate agent that you find easy to work with. You don't want an agent that you feel doesn't have your best interest in mind or that you don't get a long with. This is someone you are going to be spending a lot of time with and if you don't get a long with the person it will not be a very fun process and can actually add unwanted stress to the process.
   
   
3. Shop around for mortgages. Mortgages are as different as homes and in order to get the best terms make sure your mortgage broker is talking to more than one bank. Also, make sure you get a pre-approval from your mortgage broker. This can make a huge difference in the home finding process and when you have found the home that you want to purchase you already know you are ready to move on the loan. If you find a home you love then try to get the loan, you maybe disappointed to find that you can't afford the home you thought you could.
   
   
4. Once you have selected your Real Estate agent and your Mortgage Broker, you are now ready to really start looking at homes. The best thing to do is have your agent send you the broadest search as possible. If you are looking for a 3 Bed / 2 Bath with certain features you need to have your agent send you two separate searches. 1. Every 3 bed / 2 bath home, not just the ones with the features you are looking for. The reason for this is that you will be able to within a month know when a new home comes on the market if it is a good price or not. The second one showing the ones with the features you are looking for. This will show you the whole market and you will be able to tell how long homes are sitting on the market and help you in the process of putting in an offer on a home.
   
   
5. Once you find the home you want to purchase, spend $400 and get an inspection. This is the best insurance policy you can get for your soon to be home. Imagine saying that $400 is just too much to spend and then 3 months later you find a dry rot problem that could have been caught by the inspector. The cost of repairs could be in the thousands and if you had the inspection, you could have asked the sellers to repair the damage.
   
   
6. Negotiating for your new home is very important process and can cost you thousands. Don't say the word love when you are looking at a home. If the home owner hears you say the word love, you lose a lot of negotiating power. The owner knows when you love something; you are more likely to give in just to get the home. It puts the home seller in the position of power. I suggest to my clients that they act like they can get any home and this one is OK and will do. They can add to make it what they want, even if it is truly their dream home and has everything they really want.
7. What is the reason you are buying the home? Is this a long term investment or is this starter home and you are planning to purchase a new home within 3 years? These will help you decide what type of loan best meets your needs. Are you planning to have the loan for a short period of time or planning to have this home for the next 30 years?
   
   
8. Once you own your home, if you are financing it through a bank you are required to carry insurance on the home. Make sure you investigate the insurance company you choose. When you are spending so much on a home, you want to protect it and you want to make sure the company is around to help if there is a disaster.
9. Now you have lived in the home awhile and you want to make upgrades. If you are making these upgrades for the livability of the home, I say go for it. If you are doing the upgrades to sell your home you need to be very careful, this can be a slippery road that can cost you more than you will ever get back in the sale of the home. Talk to your Realtor for advice that will increase the value of your home and not over build the home for the neighborhood.

Good luck and may you have many years in your new home!