5 Homebuyer Tips

Planning on buying a house? Here are our top five tips for home buyers. Tip number one, get pre-approved ahead of time. This is the most important first step you can take. Speak with a good, reputable lender. If you need a recommendation, ask your realtor for who they recommend, who they've worked with in the past. But having a preapproval letter upfront sets clear boundaries on what you want your payment to be so you know what price range you can be looking in and when you find the right house, you're ready to make an offer.

Tip number two, be ready to make a move. It's important to know all of your must-haves and your wants and be clear with what you're looking for and where you want to be. It's very difficult to be looking across two different counties, twelve different cities, and a bunch of different price ranges for different types of properties. Know what you want and where you want to be. That way, when the right property does hit the market, you're ready to move and make an offer on it.

Tip number three, make a strong offer. Speak with your realtor about the terms that the sellers are accepting in the market that you're in. Whether it's a low inventory, super competitive market, or there's a ton of inventory and you can come in with a lower offer, it's important to know what is going on in the market so you can make a competitive offer.

Tip number four, make sure you factor in taxes and maintenance into the property's budget. The taxes on the property currently are not what they're going to be for you after you buy it, so make sure you're budgeting in the future taxes and future costs of maintenance, like HOA fees, replacing the AC when it goes, just general maintenance on the house.

Tip number five, work with a trusted, reputable partner as your agent. Not all agents are created equal. We always like to say the agent that you work with matters. Just having a real estate license doesn't mean you really know what you're doing. Make sure you're interviewing agents and finding the right fit, a good agent who has a track record of getting things done for their clients. As always, if you have any questions about the home buying process, give us a call, shoot us a text, or send us an email.