Are you getting serious about buying a home? Take the time now to do these three things before signing the dotted line and heading to your closing!
It’s important to start off your home search by reminding yourself to not get emotionally invested. It’s so easy to hop online and fall in love immediately with a handful of houses on the market that have all the bells and whistles. The smart approach, however, is to start by getting pre-approved first. A lender can guide you through the pre-approval process by taking an in-depth look at your credit report and ability to purchase a home. Pre-approval helps you understand what you can afford, so you can focus your house-hunting only on the homes within that range.
Finally, the fun part! Now you get to start browsing home listings. Feel free to start obsessively checking online house-hunting sites like Realtor.com, Zillow or Trulia to discover listings in your price range. Now is also a good time to look at homes in your preferred neighborhoods, and review statistics and reports on home values. Use this time to dream about some of your must-have home features, and start putting together your list of priorities.
Knowing your price range and home features will assist your realtor in helping you narrow the field down to a list of houses to view. It’s important to attend a lot of open houses and make appointments to see as many homes as possible. Sometimes it’s necessary to shop around to get a firm handle on what you like and dislike on top of what is available in the current market. Don’t think of it as a waste of time if it takes a while for the right house to appear. Instead, consider it time well spent honing on your house-hunting skills.
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