ABCs For Buying Your First Home
Thursday, December 17, 2009
You know the benefits of owning your home. You know the government is begging you to buy and are willing to put their (your) money in your pocket as a reward for buying. You know that your lease expires soon or you are willing to pay whatever penalty is necessary to terminate your lease early so you can get in on the best time in over 50 years to buy… Now what?
A. Define The Parameters
1) Meet with a lender who has been recommended by people you trust and have them pull your credit report and extract all needed data about your job, your income, your expenses, etc. so they can tell you the appropriate, maximum price range you should pay for your new home.
2) Meet with a REALTOR who has been recommended by people you trust have talk with them about the type home you’re looking for. Do you want to have a yard that will require upkeep? Or would you rather be able to lock and leave at a moments notice…so yard maintenance is a ‘no go’? (Do you like particular styles of homes?, etc.) What part of town would be most advantageous for you? Proximity to work, other family members or friends, or a particular school, or place of worship is a critical consideration for most of us! But please note that while you can describe your dream home can you afford it? See step 1!
3) Then go onto our website and play! From there you can look at all types of properties which will help meld your desires and ability. Once you have an idea of the price range, area, type, and style home, we can set our system up to automatically send you listings that match your parameters whenever those properties become available!
B. Got Out And Search
If you are working with a good real estate agent who listens and endeavors to find you what you want and need, the home buying process should be relatively quick and painless. A good agent will preview homes and show you only what meets your parameters (as long as your parameters are relative to the market).
Back in the “good old days” we suggested you physically inspect/look at, a minimum of 20 properties before making a buying decision. We felt that was necessary for you to learn what your money should buy you. However, today, with the ability to view properties from the comfort of your home or office, we feel you should physically inspect/look at, anywhere from five to ten properties to learn the marketplace. Then it is just a matter of finding the property you feel best suits your needs.
We find that a motivated buyer can find their home in one -to- two days.
C. Selecting “The One”
Have you ever watched the news when they are reporting on stores that are offering wedding dresses for 75% off? Did you notice the mayhem?
Then and now, when buying your home - when you see what you want, grab it! Some times you’ll know when you drive up to the curb. Some times it takes going inside and feeling the vibes…other times it is a matter of elimination.
But let me tell you a secret - a good agent will oftentimes know which property you will select before you’ve seen it. Some call it intuition…others call it luck…and others acknowledge it comes from listening closely to the buyer and understanding what they truly want, and then allowing the buyer to find the home without interference from their agent.
When you go out to view properties with your REALTOR, we suggest you take copious notes and consider taking photographs when allowed. (Some owners do not want strangers taking photos of their home until a contract has been negotiated.) My favorite way to select a property is the ‘matter of elimination’ where you compare two homes and eliminate one. And when you eliminate it, you leave photos, brochures, etc of the eliminated property behind when you go home because you eliminated it when everything was fresh! No need to go back and rehash! Then when you go to property # 3, you compare it with the winner between property # 1 and # 2 and so on.
In any event, when you decide which home feels right, don’t wait. It is very disheartening to get geared up for a property only to find out it went under contract a few hours before you submitted an offer. We have seen this scenario play out too many times. Learn from others’ mistakes!
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Atlanta Real Estate News