Steps to Buying a Home
By Jeanette Joy Fisher
When you're new to the home buying
experience, it can seem like an intimidating
process, fraught with frustration and full of
potential pitfalls. It can be a scary proposition
to buy a home, but here are some ideas you can use
to take the fear and risk out of the home buying
process.
Step #1 Arrange Financing
Your first step is to remove any doubt as to
whether you can qualify for the home of your
dreams by getting an approval from your financial
institution before you even begin looking. Believe
me, after you've fallen in love with a home is NOT
the time to find out that you can't qualify for
the loan it will take to get into that home.
Knowing how much home you can buy will take a huge
amount of uncertainty out of the process. It will
let you know what price range to shop in, and can
save heartache later on, once you've located the
home you've been looking for.
Step #2 Shop Around and
Don't Be Hasty
Visit your new home at least three times before
making your final decision. Each time you visit,
you'll notice different things, including flaws
that you didn't notice when you first fell in love
with the home. You'll be amazed that the things
you missed on your first visit, and on your
second!
Step # 3 Survey
If your new home includes any land, have the
property surveyed so that you'll know exactly
where your boundaries are. It's not good enough to
have the owner point out which trees mark the
boundaries. Often those boundaries have only been
agreed upon by various neighbors for many years,
and may have no relevance to your actual property
lines. If that's the case, it's best to find out
before you take possession of the property.
Remember, agents can help you with the various
sales conventions of the area, but not with legal
questions.
Step # 4 Read CCRs
If the home is in a subdivision, read the
developments covenants, conditions, and
restrictions (CCRs) carefully. These will spell
out specifically what you can and can't do with
your property. The same is true is you're buying a
condominium. Find out what your legal rights are
and what your association fees entitle you to.
Step #5 Insure Your
Equity
When you do find a home you love, buy an owners
title policy. This type of policy is different
from a standard title policy, which covers only
your loan amount. An owners title policy is
relatively inexpensive and also protects your
equity in the home.
Step #6 Possession
Make certain that the sellers move out according
to schedule. This is especially true if you're
buying the home directly from the owner. If you're
using a real estate agent in the transaction, you
can probably ask them to help if it seems as if
you might have any difficulty in that regard.
Of course, there are many
other steps to buying a home.
Overall, buying a new home should be an exciting
and fun experience. If you pay attention to the
details, you can make sure your next purchase is
rewarding and trouble free.
FREE report for home buyers: "Home Buyers' Biggest
Mistake," visit the
Real Estate
Credit Help Center. Author Jeanette Fisher
teaches first-time home buyers and beginning real
estate investors the ins and outs of
real
estate investing.
Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
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