Sep 05 2007
What to Expect When Buying a Home
Create a Budget
By preparing a budget while you are looking at homes, you can better focus on mortgage payment goals and how your new home will affect your total expenses. Maintaining a budget during the time you own the home can help to prevent potential financial disasters as well as point you in a money saving direction so you have more funds available for those things that you need or want.
- Keep your spending patterns in check
- Pay off minor debts (without affecting your plan for saving money - outlined below)
- DO NOT incur any new debt (this can disqualify you from buying your new home)
Save Money
Going hand and hand with an effective household budget is saving money on those things that you truly need. To start saving, take an inventory of your needs to see where you can shave the dollars. Begin with the biggest items first, where the most potential for savings are, and move down the scale to the less expensive items. A moderate savings on one of the big times (houses and cars) combined with savings on the smaller items (food, clothes, etc.) can reap a large reward in your total budget.
YOU WILL NEED AT LEAST $1000
- Good Faith Deposit ($500 Minimum). This will be credited back to you at closing to cover insurance and other expenses.
- Home and termite Inspections ($250)
- Just In Case ($250)
Determine Your Wants and Needs
Buying a home isn’t as difficult as you might think, even if you’re short on funds, but the process will go a lot smoother if you get familiar with the area where you want to live and narrow down your wants and needs before you start looking at houses. Consider what is going to be most important for you in a new home. How many bedrooms? How many bathes? What minimum amount of square footage would you feel comfortable living with? Is a basement important to you? Do you want a garage? By answering these questions early on you will save yourself a tremendous amount of time and effort.
Start Searching for a Home
This is where having a great REALTOR (like myself) will come in handy. Your REALTOR will provide you with multiple listing sheets to study. You will probably pick up House for Sale magazines and read classified ads in your local newspaper. Most likely you will spend time surfing the Internet for homes. No better place to start than www.4256000.com. You might even plan afternoon drives to preview neighborhoods. Your REALTOR will help narrow your search and find your new home.
Making an Offer
One of the most common misconceptions among home buyers occurs when it comes time to make an offer on a home. Many believe that even though they have tendered an offer to the sellers, that their options are still open. To some degree, this is correct. If the seller rejects the offer, counteroffers, or simply does not respond, options are still open. You, as the buyer, can accept the counteroffer, make another offer, or simply move on.
If, however, the seller accepts the offer (you are notified of its acceptance) then a legally binding contract has most likely been struck. Once the offer has been accepted, the “lets think it over just a bit more” phase has passed.
Homes Inspections and Other Tests
I highly recommend a professional home inspection, whether you are buying an existing home or new one. An inspection is an opportunity to have an expert look closely at the property you are considering purchasing and getting both an oral and written opinion as to its condition. It’s critical to decide which inspections and tests you want to perform. I will advise you on when inspections should be handled and if additional types of testing are needed.
Avoiding and Correcting Last Minute Problems
As your closing date nears, everyone involved in your real estate transaction should check its progress on a daily basis, because staying on top of things means you’ll know immediately if there’s a problem that must be dealt with. Again, having a good REALTOR will give you real peice of mind at this point of the transaction. They will be setting up the closing time, final walk-throughs, working with the closing attorney, checking closing statements for their validity and doing a great deal of behind the scenenes work.
You’re on the Way to Closing
Most of your home buying problems are behind you now and you’re own your way to closing. This is the event that transfers ownership of the property to you and when you recieve the keys to the property.