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For Buyers There are many ways to approach buying a home. As you might imagine, some have been proven over time to work better than others. When buying a home, it is important to balance budget constraints against desired amenities and/or a specific location. Take a close look at your lifestyle, and then make a list of those things you can and cannot live without. Prioritize items on your wish list by order of impsortance. To keep you and your agent focused during the house hunt, take the list with you. After you prioritize items on your list, determine how much money you can afford to spend on monthly mortgage payments by creating a budget. When you create your budget, take into account future financial goals as well as immediate expenses, and don't forget a savings plan. Unexpected things happen in life and you don't want your mortgage payments to become a nightmare. Remember, don't stretch your money too thin and once you establish a budget, stick to it!
Understanding
the Process of Buying a Home Prequalifying
for a loan When You Don't Qualify For a Loan If you didn't make it through either the pre-qualification or pre-approval process, you will need to fix the problem. Most problems that occur are the result of a low FICO score, poor credit, overextended finances, or erroneous information found on the credit report. House Hunting Once you are pre-qualified by a lending institution, it is time for the house hunt to begin. To help move things along, provide your real estate agent with as much information as possible and make sure she understands your priorities for the new home. When it is time to view property on the market, schedule appointments with the real estate agent around planned activities. Just be sure to give yourself enough time to view the property without rushing. When you are rushing between appointments, it is easy to overlook a special feature or critical problem. Home
Inspectors Oftentimes, in a seller's market, houses sell so quickly that the prospective buyer must rely on an inspection contingency. Thank goodness you have a real estate agent to guide you through the entire process!
Here’s how you can smoothly navigate your way through the home buying process:
Continue - Understanding the Process: When buying a home, it is important to balance budget constraints against desired amenities and/or a specific location. Take a close look at your lifestyle, and then make a list of those things you can nd cannot live without. Prioritize items on your wish list by order of importance. To keep you and our agent focused during the house hunt, take the list with you. After you prioritize items on your list, determine how much money you can afford to spend on monthly mortgage payments by creating a budget. When you create your budget, take into account future financial goals as well as immediate expenses, and don't forget a savings plan. Unexpected things happen in life and you don't want your mortgage payments to become a nightmare. Remember, don't stretch your money too thin and once you establish a budget, stick to t! Continue - Prequalifying for a loan Pre-qualifying for a loan is a fairly simply process that can be accomplished over the phone by most lending institutions. When pre-qualifying for a loan, be prepared for the lending institution's representative to ask you questions about your income, savings and checking accounts, and debts. Once the representative checks your FICO score and is satisfied with the information provided, you will be told how much money the institution is tentatively willing to loan. Based on the pre-qualifying loan amount provided by the lending institution, the real estate agent can then help you find homes in the appropriate price range. While pre-qualifying for a loan is a fairly straight forward process, once you find the home you wish to purchase, you must be pre-approved by a lending institution (though not necessarily from the lending institution that pre-qualified you). Lending institutions require more in-depth personal financial information before pre-approving a client for a loan. That is because pre-approvals are commitments to loan money while pre-qualifying a client does not entail a commitment on the part f the lender. While you wait for your loan approval, take the time to do a little research on the type of mortgage that best suits your financial needs and long-term goals. Please click her to view lending institutions that I recommend Continue-When you don't qualify for a loan One of the biggest hindrances to obtaining a loan is no credit history, bad credit, or overextended finances. To successfully obtain a loan from a financial institution, you will need to establish a good credit history and show low debts. No Credit History For potential homeowners with no credit history, it is important to establish credit. While there are many ways to build or establish credit, we don't recommend using credit cards. Recent studies show millions of Americans are billions of dollars in debt as a result of credit card debt. Instead of using credit cards, show your good credit history with the timely payment of car, rent, utility, or student loans. Poor or Bad Credit Payments that are not made on time or not made at all can result in bad credit. Bad credit can stop you from getting the loan you need. If you are unsure of your credit, you can check your credit through a credit bureau. Overextended Finances Overextended finances can prevent you from obtaining a loan even though you have an excellent credit history. Before applying for a loan, pay down your debts. As always, go after loans and credit cards with the highest interest rates. Once a loan or credit card is paid off, apply the payments to the next credit card or loan until your debt is paid down. By doing this, you are more likely to obtain financial peace and a loan! House hunting is fun, exciting, and as stressful as getting married or having a baby. That's why having a real estate agent working for you while you carry on with your normal activities is such a good idea. If you are a busy professional, you need to find the right house in the right location without committing your entire life to the effort. A real estate agent can help reduce your stress by placing you in front of only those houses that meet your specifications. After all, how many of us have time to waste fruitlessly driving through community after community? For more information on house hunting on a busy schedule, check out House Hunting on a Busy Schedule. House hunting can be an especially stressful time for our family members and this is especially true of small children. To minimize the disruptions on family activities and routines, you need to become the master of your own schedule. Master your own schedule by making sure you set the pace of the house hunt and not the real estate agent. Do not feel guilty about scheduling around critical activities such as meetings, appointments, or naps for small children. After all, you know what makes your family tick. For more information on house hunting with small children, check out House Hunting with Small Children. The perfect home is more than just shelter, it also encompasses the community surrounding the home. How many times have you heard people complain about having to transport their children into town for activities that were not available in their area? How many times have you hauled your own children halfway across town because they didn't have playmates within your subdivision or area? It is important to understand the community surrounding your potential new home. If you take the time to understand the characteristics of each type of community while you are house hunting, you will know what questions to ask your real estate agent and signs to look for in the community. For more information on finding the right neighborhood for your family, check out Choosing the Right Neighborhood. Finding the perfect home takes a little perseverance and knowledge of the local area. Knowledge of the local area or region is especially important for out-of-state house hunters. As with any region of the country, the south has its' own peculiarities when it comes to critters and bugs. To find out more, check out Love Us—Love Our Critters. Happy hunting!
Home inspections are paid for by the buyer and should be performed by a qualified home inspector. It is fiscally prudent of the buyer to have the home inspected before presenting an offer to the seller. This is true whether the home is newly built or one that is several years old. When the home is inspected before an offer is made, the buyer has no legal obligations to the seller if the inspector finds serious problems with the construction. Making an offer to a seller after the home is inspected is the optimum scenario for a buyer. In a fast moving housing market, however, the buyer may not have the luxury of waiting until a home inspection is performed. If that is the case, the buyer will have to make an offer in conjunction with an inspection contingency. An inspection contingency typically states that the offer will be withdrawn if the home inspector finds major structural flaws with the property. To get your new home inspected, you will need to hire a qualified home inspector. There are many sources for finding home inspectors such as national associations, yellow pages, referrals, or your real estate agent. While most real estate agents will not specifically recommend a home inspector, they can often provide you with a list of inspectors they have used in the past. Once you have the list from your agent, you can begin the selection process. Before you speak to an inspector, have your interview questions prepared ahead of time to make yourself feel more confident and save time. Interviewing a Home Inspector The more prepared you are to ask someone you don't know questions, in a field you know absolutely nothing about, the more confident you will feel. Schedule the interview over the phone or in person and treat the process in a professional manner. During the interview, if the inspector makes you feel like you are being silly by asking questions, don't be put off. Professional inspectors readily understand the economic importance of hiring qualified home inspectors. Those inspectors with less than sterling credentials will probably try to make light of your questions or skirt around the issues. If this happens, be polite but firm and insist that they answer your questions. Also, make sure the inspector provides you with references and proof of their credentials and then check the references. People often make the mistake of assuming that the length of time a home inspector has been in business equals competency. Just because a home inspector has never been sued does not necessarily mean the inspector is competent. Sometimes people don't sue for a lot of reasons. Before you hire a home inspector, here are some questions you might ask during an interview:
House Hunting on a Busy Schedule Bach, a Chicken Sandwich, and a Drive If you are one of those lucky folks that can get away from work for lunch, this tip is for you. Next time, instead of going out to eat or eating at your desk, take a drive around the neighborhoods that interest you. Grab some finger food at your favorite fast food joint, turn on some soothing music, go for a drive and check out the neighborhoods! Note: This really only works if your destination is in close proximity to where you work. Otherwise, you might spend all your time fighting traffic as you drive to and from the neighborhoods!
Airline Food and a Quick Look Around Some of our clients house hunt on such tight schedules that they must make the most of their time by flying into Atlanta or Columbus, Georgia, for a quick look around. If you are one of them, we can suggest hotels and transportation during your stay. Just contact us or check out the links on this web site.
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