Home Buyers Guide

Getting Started

Buying a home is the biggest financial decision most people make in their life. It's no wonder then that roughly 90% of those involved in a real estate transaction choose the services of a qualified real estate agent. After all, if you were making any other investment decision which involved hundreds of thousands of dollars, wouldn't you seek the help of a qualified broker?

The expertise of a real estate agent can save you time, hassle, and, potentially, thousands of dollars. In the end, working with a real estate agent will open new connections and approaches to finding the right home, making the buying experience more pleasant.

Jump Ahead To:

Why Own a Home? | Selecting an Agent | Working with a Lender | Needs and Wants | Neighborhood | Home Inspection | The Closing Process | Temporary Housing

Why Own a Home?

Owning a home can provide you with one of the greatest investments for many reasons, including finances, stability, and independence.

If you already own a home, trading up or down can either move you toward a greater equity potential or liquidate equity in a previous property. For many, building equity is reason enough to pursue the purchase of a home. While renting certainly has its advantages, owning a home offers the peace of mind that one's finances are being invested toward the future.

But aside from the equity, there are many other benefits to owning a home:

Community Stability: When you own a home, you put down deeper roots into the neighborhood community. There is a sense of stability and of community investment that comes with owning a home.

Security Against Inflation: As prices rise, so does the value of your home, giving you a check against inflation.

Freedom: Greater independence comes with owning a home. You have the freedom to paint your home, make home improvements, and landscape the yard. As long as you are within the law, you have flexibility to do as you wish to your home.

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Selecting an Agent

It goes without saying that there are many real estate agents from which to choose. The question is, who should you choose?

Market Knowledge: Market knowledge and experience are both important traits of a real estate agent. You should choose a real estate agent who is familiar not only with the local properties, but with employment opportunities and recreational possibilities within the community as well.

Recommendations: Ask those you know and trust whom they have used as a real estate broker. You may, in fact, already have been forwarded to this Web site by someone you know.

Connections with Sellers: When you work with a real estate agent, you are working with someone with connections. And connections typically amount to a better deal for you.

Established Professional: Select a real estate broker who is dedicated to his or her work. A professional real estate agent stays educated, keeping up with current market trends and approaches to serving clients. Choose a real estate agent who approaches his or her work as a profession, as opposed to one for whom real estate is a side pursuit.

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Working With a Lender

If you are like the majority of people buying a home, you will need the help of a lender. Your lender will assess the financial viability of the purchase, and provide the financing needed.

When shopping for a home, it helps to be prequalified. If you hire a real estate agent, he or she will often require a visit to your lender for prequalification before you even begin looking at properties.

Information Often Required by a Lender:

1. Tax Returns

2. Pay Stubs

3. Checking and Savings Account Statements

4. Debt information, including names of creditors, account numbers, and monthly payments

5. Billing statements from creditors, including charge cards, gas cards, auto loans, student loans, and other obligations

6. Employers for the past two years, including names and addresses

7. Gross monthly salary

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Needs and Wants

When buying a home, it is important to assess both your needs and wants. Make clear distinctions between the two, as you will inevitably be faced with decisions of priority, and have to give up one characteristic for another.

Needs
Your needs may include an extra bedroom for frequent guests, an office room, a fenced-in backyard for your dog, or proximity to work. These traits are ones you should not be able to do without.

Wants
Your wants may include a fireplace, a certain style of home, an extra bedroom, or a proximity to parks. These traits are more easily disposed of in favor of other traits.

There is no right or wrong answers here. One person's wants may be another person's needs, and vice versa. Also, you will find that these categories, rather than being easily divided into two groups, will, in practice, be aligned on a spectrum. Simply be aware of the decisions you will need to make ahead of time between what is necessary and what is only desired.

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Surveying the Neighborhood

Be observant when considering a new neighborhood. What pace of life characterizes the neighborhood? Is this where you want your kids growing up and playing? What about the noise level? Now is your chance to be a detective, figuring out everything you can about the neighborhood in which you may soon be living.

As you gather notes, approach the home from different directions and at different times of the day. This will help expose you to what goes on around the neighborhood throughout the day if you were living there.

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