Picking The Right House Today

Here you can learn about the broader real estate market and what's available in your price

range.

By using the Internet as an educational tool, you will be able to narrow down the types of

homes, the neighborhoods that you can afford and the area that you would like to live in,

before really getting started. Too much of a good thing, probably is. Make sure to look at the

overall area crime rates, schools, and retail centers as well as the house and neighborhood.

Take good notes, get copies and set up a system to keep you organized.

The Internet is good for home shopping up until the time when you really decide that it is time

to buy a home. Then it's time to bring in the professionals. The pros you want to hire are a

local mortgage lender and a good real estate agent that works with buyers. Once you've

hired them, you will be owning a home in no time.

You found your dream house and you are writing an offer on it. An accurate selling price is

crucial, not only to ensure that you don’t overpay for the house, but to ensure that the house

will pass the lender’s appraisal. This is just one small piece of the contract that your agent

will guide you through.

A buyer's agent will educate you about their housing market, both the homes and

neighborhoods. They also should be able to explain the differences between school districts,

giude you to local transportation and shopping, negotiate the best contract terms and price

for you, be with you for your home inspection and most important, listen to what you are

looking for. The other piece of their job will include finding the right home for you, writing an

offer on it, negotiating it, educating you along the way on the various parts of the contract.

These contingincies will be the appraisal, home inspections, the survey, title insurance along

with any items that pop up to make for an unsettling bit of the transaction.

If you are already working with a loan officer, he/she is the best person to give you a more

accurate amount of what you can expect to pay for your closing costs as well as what type of

loan you can get and the minimum amount of money needed for the down payment. All the

money issues can not be answered with one straight answer. As a rule of thumb, you can

expect to dish out about three per cent on closing costs and a bare minimum of 3.5 % on a

down payment. If you are using a VA loan, this can offset both your down payment needs as

well as your need for closing costs as you can get them all built in to your loan.

For a home buyer looking at the housing market, you should know it has some seasonal flow.

We typically see inventory increasing in summer and that just didn't happen this year. And in

winter it usually decreases. If it decreases there will be less to pick from. In winter people

start getting into their routines, school, holidays, family. Some buyers will table their search to

after February when school starts coming towards its end.

The Purchase Of A Home In The Present Realty Market