3 Tips To Consider When Buying A Home.

Tip #1: Keep Your Money Where It Is.

One thing that you want to avoid before purchasing a new home is making any other large purchases. You don’t want anything to negatively impact your credit score before buying a home. This includes opening new credit cards, or taking on new debt. Lenders want to feel confident in your ability to be financially responsible, especially when they’re considering you for a loan. In short, don’t take any risks with your credit score if you’re planning on investing in a new home.

Tip #2: Bigger Isn’t Always Better.

When you’re buying a house, you may gravitate towards the biggest home on the block. It’s important to consider what your potential resale value will look like. If you have the most expensive home on the block, it will only go up in value as much as the homes surrounding it. The largest house only appeals to a few people. If you’re planning on reselling, you want to have the largest number of potential buyers possible. Instead of searching for the best house on the block, you should search for the house that best fits your needs.

Tip #3: Survey the Neighborhood.

People often fall in love with their homes, but they often fail to consider the neighborhood. If you’re planning on having children, you need to determine what school district the home is in. Even if you aren’t planning on children, you still should research what schools are nearby because it may impact the resale value of the home. It’s also not a bad idea to try your morning commute from the house, to determine if that would impact your decision. Don’t be afraid to drive through the neighborhood during different times of the day to really get a lay of the land.

Exterior Home Shot
3 Tips When Buying a House

Say what?

Feel like everybody’s speaking a different language when it comes to real estate? Get into the conversation and get comfortable understanding what’s being said. This short glossary helps buyers and sellers navigate industry terms.

Appraisal – the determination of the worth of something by a professional, in this case the market value of a property. An appraiser uses an analysis of local market data along with the characteristics of the property. Your bank or other lender may refuse to loan you money if the appraisal price is lower than the loan request.

Closing costs – the entire package of miscellaneous expenses paid by the buyer and the seller when the real estate deal closes. These costs include the brokerage commission, mortgage-related fees, escrow or attorney’s settlement charges, transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and so on. Closing costs are generally paid through escrow. Jump ahead if you’re lost after “escrow.”

Contingency – conditions that have been built in to a real estate purchase or sale agreement must be met before the sale can be completed and legally binding. For example, a buyer’s contractual right to obtain a professional home inspection before purchasing the home.

Disclosures – The seller is required to provide the buyer with certain information (disclosures). The number and types of disclosures vary by region, but they may include information about conditions affecting the value or enjoyment of the property. The seller may know of an earth-shaking construction project that is about the start around the corner, which would impact the enjoyment of the property.

Escrow – Funds, securities or other assets held by a neutral third party (an escrow company or agent) on behalf of the other two parties (in this case the buyer and the seller). The buyer will deposit the payment in an escrow account, proving to the seller that he or she will be able to uphold the other end of the deal. The escrow service will pay the funds to the seller once certain conditions pertaining to the sale have been met.

MLS – Multiple Listing Service. An MLS is an organization that collects, compiles and distributes information about homes listed for sale by its members, who are real estate brokers. All properties for sale are assigned an MLS number.

Mortgage – A loan that helps you purchase your house. You sign a contract promising to pay back the loan with interest over a certain number of years. The components of your monthly mortgage payments may be referred to as PITI:  principal (the money that goes into paying down the loan), interest (which is paid to the lender for letting you borrow the money), (property) taxes and (homeowner’s) insurance.


,
Office:




© 2024