Home Buying Tips

Top Things To Know

Courtesy of CNNMoney.com, Presented By Eric Matz

If you are considering buying your first home, here are a few things that will help you get started. I am always available to answer any home buying/selling questions that you may have. Real Estate is the largest, most important financial purchase most people to do in their life, be sure to hire an experienced Realtor that will represent your best interest. I have over 20+ years experience representing both buyers and sellers in the San Diego county, including Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, and Rancho Penasquitos, call me and I’d love to help you too. 858-676-6122

1. Don’t buy if you can’t stay put.
If you can’t commit to remaining in one place for at least a few years, then owning is probably not for you, at least not yet. With the transaction costs of buying and selling a home, you may end up losing money if you sell any sooner – even in a

rising market. When prices are falling, it’s an even worse proposition.

2. Start by shoring up your credit.
Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.

3. Aim for a home you can really afford.
The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you’ll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts, and expenses affect what you can afford.

4. If you can’t put down the usual 20 percent, you may still qualify for a loan.
There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low-interest mortgages that require a down payment as small as 3 percent of the purchase price.

5. Buy in a district with good schools.
In most areas, this advice applies even if you don’t have school-age children. Reason: When it comes time to sell, you’ll learn that strong school districts are a top priority for many home buyers, thus helping to boost property values.

6. Get professional help.
Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an exclusive buyer agent, if possible, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.

7. Choose carefully between points and rate.
When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points — a portion of the interest that you pay at closing — in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time — say three to five years or more — it’s usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.

8. Before house hunting, get pre-approved.
Getting pre-approved will you save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can’t afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history.

 9. Do your homework before bidding.
Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that’s about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.

10. Hire a home inspector.
Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But that’s just the bank’s way of determining whether the house is worth the price you’ve agreed to pay. Separately, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.
The store will present low-cost soccer shirts reproduction of nationwide football teams and high-flight football clubs https://www.alljerseysports.com to all customers. Right here in soccerstars ,Yow will discover out the newest home and away football shirts from all of the main membership and international teams cheap Liverpool football shirts including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham, AC Milan, Juventus, Spain, Brazil, England, Scotland, Holland, Germany and extra. At Clubline cheap Juventus football shirts Football, you may discover the among the sport’s greatest icons which have helped form these alliances – the distinct swoosh of Nike, the three stripes of adidas and the well-known cheap Barcelona football shirts Puma ‘formstrip’ to call but just a few, and all at low prices.
Then simply check out cheap Real Madrid football shirts Lovell Soccer’s number of reproduction football shirts priced at £20 or below. Discount Soccer Kits was established in 1979 and was chargeable for creating one the UK’s first websites devoted to cheap AC Milan football shirts supplying football kits – has now been operating for more than 10 years. Despite Kimmy K telling Ryan Seacrest that she and Kris needed Genuine Low-cost Soccer Jerseys to wait a yr or so, it appears they are already excited about a child.
Lots of groups today are choosing cheap Tottenham Hotspur football shirts getting sponsors to support the personalisation of football equipment bags as a method of maximising the impression of their advertising investment, while serving to out the cheap Manchester United football shirts staff or football club even more. Pendle is the biggest mail order soccer kits supplier direct to beginner clubs in the UK and offer trade main quality, market leading turnaround instances and exceptional worth on all of our products.