Creator: KPOT C.B. ©Smole
I met with a couple today who was thinking of selling their home. They were first-time buyers 3 years ago. They told me their experience was "so bad" that I felt that I should write up a “First Time Buyer Must know” tips as soon as I got home.
With the technology and internet available to us, most buyers believe that they do not need a realtor, and can browse on their own. True, you can get all the listing information online, but you should work with a Realtor for many reasons to ensure you're making an informed decision on one of the biggest and important investments of your life.
- First of all, you should meet with a professional Real Estate Agent who will discuss the whole buying procedure with you. A good professional agent is going to protect your interests and show you step by step.
- Meet with your bank or Mortgage Specialist who can qualify you based on your income, your debt ratio, and secure a good mortgage rate for you.
- Once you know your budget and the pre-approval of your mortgage amount, you can then consult with your agent on what areas, special requirements you may have, and narrow down your home search based on your budget.
- The realtor would set up the home search for you and keep you up to date on all available listings.
- During the time of home searching and viewing, your Realtor should give you advice on the positives and negatives about the house, future re-sale aspects of the house, and comment on location & floor plan to give you the best comprehension of the properties.
- Once you find what you like, your Realtor should give you the Comparable Market Analysis on similar houses.
- Establish a strategy in negotiation.
- After negotiating a good price for the home you like, then the next step is to hire a good Home Inspector to get the home inspected thoroughly, and also get the final approval from the bank.
- Anytime BEFORE the above 2 important conditions are met (financing and home inspection) NEVER remove conditions on the contract. Because once you waive the conditions, you have made the commitment to buy the house. Therefore, must get the formal Approval Letter from the Bank first, and your satisfactory from the Home Inspection Report before you will waive the 2 conditions. Once you are completely satisfied Financially and with the outcome of the Inspection, you may waive conditions and commit to buying the home.
- The final step is to hire your own Lawyer to complete the transaction.
This may be one of the biggest investments in your life. Therefore, a professional Real Estate Agent will help you save money by negotiating the best market value of the home, and protect you by making any mistakes along the way that will cost you thousands of dollars. No guessing game, work with a professional Realtor!
Posted by Jessica Chan on
Leave A Comment