Home Buyer Guide
Buying a home, whether or not it's your first home, often seems like an intimidating process, fraught with frustration and full of potential pitfalls. It can be a scary proposition to buy a home, but here are some ideas you can use to take the fear and risk out of the home buying process.
Qualifying Guide
Your first step is to remove any doubt as to whether you can qualify for the home of your dreams by getting an approval from your financial institution before you even begin looking. Believe me, after you've fallen in love with a home is NOT the time to find out that you can't qualify for the loan it will take to get into that home.
Knowing how much home you can buy will take a huge amount of uncertainty out of the process. It will let you know what price range to shop in, and can save heartache later on, once you've located the home you've been looking for.
 Selecting Your Home
Once you know how much of a home you qualify for, don't extend yourself too far. Error on the cautious side so that you won't spend sleepless nights worrying about the house payment. You might be able to buy a brand new home. However, be sure to add up the costs of amenities that you might desire like patios, sunscreens, landscaping, window coverings, upgrades, and other features. Often, you can find a resale home for much less that has most of the features you want.
Remember, homes staged for sale tempt buyers who fall in love. Try to look past messy homes to see the structure, floor plan, neighborhood, and important features. Think of your home purchase as an investment because it might be your biggest investment you ever make!
Visit your new home at least three times before making your final decision. Each time you visit, you'll notice different things, including flaws that you didn't notice when you first fell in love with the home. You'll be amazed that the things you missed on your first visit, and on your second!
If the home is in a subdivision, read the developments covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CCRs) carefully. These will spell out specifically what you can and can't do with your property. The same is true is you're buying a condominium. Find out what your legal rights are and what your association fees entitle you to.
Negotiate a Bargain Price
Even new home developers offer upgrades, buyer assistance programs, and financing help. ASK! You never know until you ask. Always make a low offer. In a buyer's market, you have the upper hand. Make a lot of offers until you get what you want at a great price.
Protect Yourself
When you do find a home you love, buy an owner's title policy. This type of policy is different from a standard title policy, which covers only your loan amount. An owner's title policy is relatively inexpensive and also protects your equity in the home.
If your new home includes any land, have the property surveyed so that you'll know exactly where your boundaries are. It's not good enough to have the owner point out which trees mark the boundaries. Often those boundaries have only been agreed upon by various neighbors for many years, and may have no relevance to your actual property lines. If that's the case, it's best to find out before you take possession of the property. Remember, agents can help you with the various sales conventions of the area, but not with legal questions.
Make certain that the sellers move out according to schedule. This is especially true if you're buying the home directly from the owner. If you're using a real estate agent in the transaction, you can probably ask them to help if it seems as if you might have any difficulty in that regard.
Overall, buying a new home should be an exciting and fun experience. If you pay attention to the details, you can make sure your next purchase is rewarding and trouble free.
Copyright © 2007 Jeanette J. Fisher
Use of this copy without permission (active links required) is a violation of federal copyright laws.
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