Owning a home is certainly everyone’s dream and most people will strive to make this dream a reality. In the U.S for instance, the average age for first-time home buyers is around 33 years, a quite young age to achieve such a big achievement. Buying a house is a time-consuming and frustrating experience especially if you have no idea to go about the whole process. Nevertheless, there are a number of practices you can employ when buying your dream home. Below are the top tips you should certainly consider when looking to buy a house.
1. Come Up With A Realistic Budget.
Even before commencing the house hunting process, it is crucial to first receive preapproval from one or more lending institutions to get to know the amount of mortgage you qualify to borrow. Then, come up with a final budget factoring in additional costs of ownership including taxes, utilities, Homeowners Association (HOA) dues and insurance among other additional expenses. It is also important to budget for down payment and closing costs before landing on a final budget. You may want to use a mortgage calculator which can be found online to determine a monthly payment that can easily fit in your budget based on your income.
2. Hire The Services Of An Experienced Realtor Based Within Your Locality
It is essential to work with an experienced realtor like a property buyer’s agent from Sydney who is always a member of the National Association of Realtors. A realtor who is familiar with the neighborhoods or areas you are considering buying a house can streamline the home hunting process and enable you buy your dream home without breaking the bank. This is because realtors provide trusted information as they have unparalleled knowledge of a particular neighborhood therefore provide buyers with a competitive advantage needed for the hugely competitive property market. An experienced realtor with a vast knowledge of a particular property area will certainly save your time as well as your finances.
3. Consider a Desirable Neighborhood And Important Amenities.
When looking to buy a house, it is crucial to note that sometimes your budget may be tight and you may have to give up certain luxuries and consider looking for a desirable neighborhood and other important amenities. Certain home luxuries including spa, hardwood floors, or preferred stainless appliances may not be necessary to consider when looking for a house. Issues such as the locality of the house or essentials such as the size of the house or number of bedrooms cannot be changed later and therefore should be well considered during the house hunting process. For example, if you’re looking at houses for sale in Cranston, you’ll want to make sure it has the essentials you want: number of bedrooms, garage, yard size, and location to name a few.
4. Be Quick To Make Crucial Decisions.
The real estate market is largely competitive and therefore you should be prepared to make decision quickly and reasonably. When you find a house that suits your budget as well as your needs, don’t think twice and close the deal immediately. Houses rarely stay on the market that long and you may find yourself losing out on your dream home particularly because you dilly-dallied in making a right decision. However, this does not mean that you should always be quick to make a decision before consulting an experienced realtor or your family.
5. Try To Offer Competitive Bids With Limited Contingencies
While it may be tempting to offer a low offer as a starting bid, it doesn’t guarantee you a win. Property sellers would always go for prospective buyers with high offers from the very beginning. Buyers with low bids are therefore likely to lose out on the house. Additionally, it’s not always the highest bids that guarantees a win as most property sellers would aggravate towards bids with the fewest contingencies. Minimizing restrictions related to the sale as well as being flexible in certain things such as the move-in date can make your bid win the sale.
6. Negotiate The Offer
Before closing the sale, it is advisable to negotiate the final offer just to find out if you could be offered a discount. Most real estate agents provide comparable sales which refers to similar house types in the same condition and location that have sold within the past three months. Based on the comparable sale inventory, you are able to negotiate the offer and be offered a discount. However, this may not always be the case as sometimes the offer price is paramount and cannot be negotiated.
7. Carry Out A Home Inspection
Some states require that a home inspection be conducted before buyers close the sell. In other states, a home inspection is taken as a contract contingency with the buyer being provided with an opportunity to cancel the contract. Nevertheless, it is important to undertake a home inspection to establish if everything in the house in functioning properly before you move in. A home inspection is necessary for the buyer’s edification of the home’s status and he/she can request for repairs from the sellers if deemed necessary.
Conclusion
Buying a house is certainly not a walk in the park its stressful and time consuming. However, with experienced real estate agents such as Richard Pattisall, you certainly will land your dream home in no time and acquire it without breaking your bank.