Spring is the busiest season on the real estate calendar, and it is not far off. It may still be cold outside, but many people just like you are gearing up to start looking at houses soon. There will be lots of buyers out looking at the same homes you look at, and making competing offers. In order to be successful, buyers will need to make some good decisions when starting their hunt for a new home.
Here are a few tips for spring-time buyers:
Be prepared. Get your loan pre-qualification and pre-approval in advance. Visit with a lender you trust, or ask for a recommendation from your Realtor. You will need to provide several documents to the lender so he/she can pull your credit, verify your income and debts, and issue a pre-approval letter. Without that letter in hand when you start looking at houses, you are way behind schedule.
Act quickly. If you find a house you really like, and it meets all or most of your needs, you should not take too much time to think about things before making an offer. If you wait too long, chances are good that other offers will come in and you will lose your opportunity. Great properties that are in good repair, nicely staged, and priced right go quickly, especially when there are a lot of buyers out looking.
Make a fair offer. Don’t try to lowball on the offer when there are going to be other offers on the table. Your Realtor will run comps on the property to determine a fair market price. You should listen to your Realtor when determining your offer. If there are going to be multiple offers, you might need to offer a little more than fair-market value. If you try to low-ball to have “room to negotiate”, you will likely loose out on the house you love.
Spring-time in the Houston area is predicted to be a strong season. There will be many people out looking for the same type of property you are interested in. Be prepared. Put your best foot forward when starting your home search, and your chances of success will be much greater!
Happy house-hunting!
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