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A Real Estate Blog I hope you will check my blog often as I will be writing about real estate and everything that is associated with it. I will occasionally write about me personally, my community or just about anything. I love taking and enjoying pictures so I will, also, be sharing some with you.

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A Quick Guide to Buying a Home

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Contributed by: Barbara Salisbury on 5/7/2008

Buying a home is one of life's most exciting times and it is one of the biggest personal investments a person will ever make so why not get better prepared? The more prepared you are in the beginning, the less overwhelmed you will be. Learn the steps in the home buying process, educate yourself on the details and search resources like the internet. Then use this info as you get started.

Have a plan. First, check your credit rating. It's wise to check your rating with all 3 credit reporting companies. Correcting any errors now will avoid problems later when you are obtaining credit approval. Learn your FICO score and make steps to improve it. Check my blog later this week for an article explaining FICO scores and how to improve them.

Hold off making any major credit card or car purchases until you have closed on your home. Monthly payments you're obligated to pay will be counted against you and reduce the amount of mortgage you'll be eligible for. Even if you have been pre-approved, that approval is subject to last minute evaluation and you could be refused at the last minute.

Second, get, at minimum, pre-qualified or even better get pre-approved. Pre-qualification is more or less an estimate provided by a mortgage company stating how much home you can afford. A pre-approval is a written commitment from a mortgage company to put together a loan for you. It also spells out exactly how much home you will be approved to buy. Pre-approval makes you a stronger buyer, welcomed by sellers. If there are competing offers on a home, having a pre-approval is a must. Wihtout it you may lose to another potential buyer who has their pre-approval. It also speeds up the process once you have found a home.

Third, become an educated buyer. Research neighborhoods, read ads, check home prices and use the internet. A realtor who knows the area can be a great help in understanding the benefits and the problems with different neighborhoods.

Fourth, make a wish list. This list will include home features as well as neighborhood features. At the top of the list should be the features that you simply can't live without. Next should be the features that you want, but might be able to live without. At the bottom will be the things that are totally unacceptable. Think about the features that you like in your current home. This excercise will streamline your house hunting.

Fifth, if you haven't already done so, find a realtor. A realtor will have access to more listings and other information than you will. He\she will help you understand the process, the forms and the paperwork. And, best of all, he\she is an expert at negotiating. He\she will be able to suggest professionals like inspectors. Did you know that having a realtor as your buying agent actually costs you nothing? That is because in almost cases realtors these days are paid with a split of the listing agents commission as part of a co-operation agreement. So why not have one?

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Barbara Salisbury

Highlands Ranch , CO

Barbara Salisbury has posted 16 blog entries and 1 comment since joining on 5/7/2008. Barbara Salisbury 's average blog rating is 5.

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