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Home BuyingSo you are thinking of buying a home. Owning a home has financial responsibilities. Are you ready for that? Can you afford the loan payments? Have you set aside sufficient down payment to qualify for the lowest mortgage possible? These are questions you need to answer honestly and not fall into the trap that because you have found a mortgage company willing to set you with a loan despite the fact you are financially on shaky ground, that you are ready to be a first time home buyer. There are hidden costs of homeownership. Some of the extra costs are homeowners insurance, property taxes, and depending on where you live there are specific type insurances required such as flood insurance. One way to meet these extra financial obligations is to have your mortgage company do an escrow account that covers these extra costs and insure that these obligations are met year round. The advantages of homeownership is that instead of losing your money on rent, you are building equity in your own property. Through that equity you can realize financial profit through reselling the property later on, or pass onto your loved ones the equity in your home, or even make use of that equity during your life for education, vacation, home improvements or to carry you through difficult financial setbacks. If you are planning to buy a home to locate the best neighborhood to live in, check out the backgrounds of your potential neighbors for any criminal offenses. Background checks are readily available online through services that can cost from $30 to $60 per resident address. Also visit the neighborhood at varying hours of the day and night to see if there are any potential problems you would find hard living with such as late night barking dogs or young children allowed to zip up and down the street at night on noisy gas-powered scooters or gangs of teens congregating in front of a home drinking/smoking/playing loud music, or even bright stadium lights that may ruin your view at night from a nearby stadium. Sometimes such problems can only be discovered by observing the neighborhood for a couple of weeks, days, nights and weekends. You can also check the local police reports for any repeat calls for disturbances. Everyone may not find the same items problematic, so this is strictly dependent on your personal dislikes or intolerances. Here are quick steps to buying a home: 1) First find a house that you like. This is easy to do from the comfort of your home utilizing Internet-based real estate tools to perform a home search. In case you are a little technology shy and are not sure about using the world wide web for locating your dream property, the 2005 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, eighty-two percent of first-time homebuyers used the Internet to search for homes while repeat homebuyers employed the Internet 78 percent to find homes for sale. The Internet can provide you detailed information on local homes for sale in the location you desire, including aerial photographs, full statistics on the property, including dimensions and market value. With such tools, home buying screening process has never been more convenient whether shopping for single-family homes, condos or townhomes. However, statistics also reveal that most people will turn to a professional realtor after two weeks of searching online to assist them with the complex nature of the home buying process. There is no substitute for experience when it comes to a good working knowledge of the nuances of specialty transitions and the paperwork involved in real estate transactions. However, not every real estate agent will live up to their promises and that is why it is important you choose an agent with a track record and check out references to verify any claims before selecting the agent. Don't sign up with an agent before verifying their information and making sure they meet the following specifics, or you may find yourself tied up for a few months to a non-performing individual. You should ask the agent the following questions: How many buyers have you successfully found properties for in the last six months? Are you a REALTOR® (a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®)? How long have you been a real estate agent? Do you work full or part time as a real estate broker? How will you help me locate the property I seek? How many complete transactions have you closed in the last six months? You need to compare how this real estate agent's output compares with other local real estate agents. One of the most important home buying tips on the subject of real estate agents is: Don't settle for the first real estate agent you talk to before conducting a review of their track record, verifying references and asking the agent the above basic questions. 2) Take the listing information to a mortgage company and submit it to them to review you for preapproval of a loan for the home. 3) Submit an offer to the homeowner. 4) Respond quickly to any counter-offers or term changes. Be prepared to be flexible, patient and open to negotiations, and most importantly, reasonable. Now begin and find the best house for you at the best possible price in today's market. |
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