Buying a Home?

You've decided you're ready to buy a home. Congratulations! Buying a home is a major turning point and one that you will most likely live with for a considerable number of years. The possibilities for life in your new home are exciting to consider. Keep in mind as serious as the endeavor is, you also need to relax and keep a clear head so you can make important decisions.

I would like to share a few tips on how to help you keep the home buying experience productive and one of successful expectation:

Talk, Talk, Talk: Your REALTOR® wants and needs to hear from you. The more information you can share with your REALTOR the more clearly defined they will make your search. Even if you think it is not important, mention your concern to your REALTOR®; better to share something that turns out to be inconsequential than hold back on something that ends up being imperative to your idea of a perfect home.

Get Specific: If your search criteria too broad both you and your REALTOR® will waste precious time visiting listings that in the long run, will be of little interest. If you feel overwhelmed by the wide variety of possibilities when buying a home, so much so you don’t think you know exactly what you want; sit down with your REALTOR® and share what you don’t want in your new home. Oftentimes, defining what you don't want can be surprisingly effective in helping home buyers figure out what is most important in their search.

Your New Home is Just a CLICK Away: You already know this since you’re on my site but, consider how a buyer’s search for a new home has benefited by easy access to area listings. Take advantage of the search features on my site to help you hone in on what housing type and neighborhoods appeal most to you.

Touring Tips: When you share those fun days of touring homes with your REALTOR®, be as prepared as possible. If you have concerns about leaving children or work responsibilities, you are wise to have those tasks covered by someone competent enough that you can truly focus on the task at hand without distraction. Also, you’ll need something to trigger your memory about various homes when you are considering the listings at day‘s end. Find outstanding features and associate them with homes i.e., the home with the big stained glass window or, that home with the black granite tile in the foyer. Jotting down a distinctive feature will help you associate that home at a later time. You may even want to assign a rating system to use for each home such as a scale from A+ to F, indicating your level of interest. Last but not least, based on your time availability, pre-determine with your REALTOR® how many homes you want to see in one day. Too many listings can be overwhelming and too few, unproductive. Your REALTOR® will help you establish a happy medium so you can get the most out of your tour.

How Long Before I Find “Thee House?” Of this is a few contributing factors. A buyer who needs to move within a certain time frame will generally find a home much faster than a buyer merely considering a move. Necessity is truly the mother of invention and buyers with time constraints are focused on a goal. I encourage you to begin your physical search with some sort of time frame. Otherwise, without you might pass up a home that is sold by the time you are ready. Also, your search parameters are crucial. As I mentioned in the paragraph entitled “Get Specific,” if you are clear with your REALTOR® about what you want and don’t want, they will be able to minimize homes you need to tour before finding the one that suits your criteria. You can also ask your REALTOR® if they will preview homes once you’ve established enough rapport that they can judge the listings on your behalf. Your REALTOR® can save you a lot of legwork and all diligent realtors are perfectly happy to accommodate such a request.

Am I Ready to Submit An Offer? Once you’ve narrowed down a few homes, ask your REALTOR® to check back and see if the homes were sold, if any offers have come in or any factors have come into play that enhanced the Sellers motivation. After these questions are answered, if you believe that all or most of your criteria been met, go for it! Submit an offer!