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10 Tips for Home Buyers
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If you are planning to buy a house this year, here are 10 Tips for Home Buyers, derived from lenders, builders, buyers, sellers and me!
1) Get a copy of your credit report. If you have blemishes, old judgments or errors, the time to correct them is before you apply for a mortgage. Your mortgage lender may deny you a loan or charge you more if your credit is messy. You can lose out on a house if your mortgage application is held up while you resolve credit problems. Click here for phone numbers and web links to the three major credit reporting agencies. Each agency can provide reports from the others as well. There is a charge for the reports.
2) Work with a lender and get pre-approved. This means that a lender examines your credit report, your income and liabilities and makes a commitment in writing to lend you a particular amount, pending an appraisal of the house you decide to buy. You'll know exactly how much you can afford and won't waste time looking at homes that are too expensive. If you find yourself in a bidding war for a home, sellers may decide to accept your bid instead of an offer from someone who hasn't started the mortgage process! Click here for online loan pre-approval.
3) See what your money will buy. Once you know how much you're pre-approved for, look around to see what that money will buy in various locations. Say you're approved for $150,000, if you're going for new construction, ask me which builders are in your price range. What do you get for $150,000 in new construction, and what it will buy in a resale home? I will do the research for you- See 'Listings Custom & FREE for You' available to you on this web site at no charge (& remain anonymous!).
4) Compile a wish list. Make a list of what you want in the house: number of square feet, number of bedrooms and baths, fireplace, deck, big lot or small, suburban or rural. If you're buying the house with a spouse or partner, that person should also make a list. If you have children, ask them what they want. Then compare lists. You'll be able to narrow your search so that all are on the same page.
5) Develop a realistic approach. No home is perfect. You may not get the deck, the balcony, the pool, etc. in your new home. An older resale home may have smaller closets and more modest bathrooms. People move every 5 to 7 years: the next house may have what this one doesn't.
6) Look at some of the builder's older homes. If you're buying new construction, check with me for info on where the builder was active four or five years ago, then visit their homes in those subdivisions. How have the homes aged? Do they look fresh, bright and in good shape, or are they showing their age, with faded siding, curling roof shingles or streaky paint? This could be what your new home will look like in five years.
7) Take a fix-up class. Once you buy that new home, you'll have to maintain it, so take some of the home repair classes offered by home centers and hardware stores. Gain confidence that you can paint, hang wallpaper and repair a dripping faucet or a running toilet. As you shop resale homes, you'll be able to size up the problems and say "I can fix that," and focus on the floor plan, square footage and major systems. For plumbing, air conditioning or heating problems you can not repair, or a simple a/c clean & tune, visit a
company we highly recommend: www.topnotchheatingandair.com
8) Take a home buyers class. Johnson County Community College & nonprofit community agencies offer them. Get answers to your questions. Empower yourself with knowledge so you feel less intimidated. Even if you're a repeat buyer, these classes will bring you up to speed on what's new in real estate and how laws and practices have changed.
9) Visit your prospective new neighborhood at different times. Maybe you look at a home on a Sunday and everything is peaceful and quiet. What's that neighborhood like on a weekday morning, or in the evening? Do heavy trucks use the street during weekday business hours? Does the neighbor's dog howl at the moon? Walk around and talk to residents about what they like or dislike about the neighborhood
10) Try the commute. Drive to your new neighborhood early in the morning and then drive to your workplace. At the end of the workday, see what the drive home is like. What will it be like to drive the kids to sports and activities? Will you be making a couple of round trips through murderous traffic?
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