Looking to buy a home? Here are five essential tips for making the process as smooth as possible.
Get your finances in order.
Start
by getting a full picture of your credit. Obtain copies of your credit
report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you find.
Next, find a suitable lender and get pre-approved for a loan. This will
put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find
the right house.
Find a house you can afford.
As
with engagement rings, there’s a general rule of thumb when it comes to
buying a home: two-and-a-half times your annual salary. There are also a
number of tools and calculators online that can help you understand how
your income, debt, and expenses affect what you can afford. Don’t
forget, too, that there are lots of considerations beyond the sticker
price, including property taxes, energy costs, etc.
Hire a professional.
While
the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings and
resources, many aspects of the buying process require a level of
expertise you can’t pick up from surfing the web. That’s why you’re
better off using a professional agent than going it alone. If possible,
recruit an exclusive buyer agent, who will have your interests at heart
and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.
Do your homework.
Before
making a bid, do some research to determine the state of the market at
large. Is it more favorable for sellers or buyers? Next, look at sales
trends of similar homes in the area or neighborhood. Look at prices for
the last few months. Come up with an asking price that’s competitive,
but also realistic. Otherwise, you may end up ticking off your seller.
Think long term.
Obviously,
you shouldn’t buy unless you’re sure you’ll be staying put for at least
a few years. Beyond that, you should buy in a neighborhood with good
schools. Whether you have children or not, this will have an impact on
your new home’s resale value down the line. When it comes to the house
itself, you should hire your own home inspector, who can point out
potential problems that could require costly repairs in the future.
To start your home search now, go to http://lee-ehrke.kw.com/
Jun 15, 2016
Category: Selling
It
may seem that homebuyers and sellers don't agree on much, but they
share one important concern: that the transaction is successful. This
comradery is never more evident than during the appraisal process. It's
only natural, since the results of the appraisal can send the deal
spiraling out of control.
Appraisers take into account many factors when
determining the worth of a home. While some of these, such as location,
can't be helped, there are things a homeowner can do to ensure that the
home is appraised for maximum value.
1. Information is King
Appraisers
don't spend a lot of time in the home. In fact, Brian Coester, chief
executive of appraisal firm CoesterVMS, tells CNBC that the interior
inspection typically takes 30 minutes or less.
"After inspecting thousands of homes, it does become
quite easy to quickly assess the amenities in a home," reiterates Ryan
Lundquist on Sacramento Appraisal Blog. That isn't much time to make a
good first impression, so line up those ducks in advance of the
appraiser's visit.
The first one should be a packet of information that you can hand the
appraiser as he or she speeds out the door after the inspection. This
packet should contain not only the basics about your home but anything
that will help back up the buyer's offer.
Include a fact sheet about the home with the address, the year
the home was built, the square footage, number of bedrooms and
bathrooms, and the size of the lot.
Also include a listing of recent sales in the area, especially if you
know of any for-sale-by-owner homes that have sold or homes that sold
for less than they should have for any reason. For example, a home may
have been sold to a relative, or the owners may have sold quickly to
take a job out of town. Yes, the appraiser has access to recent home
sales, but there's always a chance he or she may miss something.
Create a list of any improvements you've made to the home.
List them by date and include contact information for the contractor who
did the work.
2. If It's Broken, Fix It
The appraiser will assign the home with what is known in the business as an "effective age."
It's largely based on the condition of the home and how
well it has been maintained. This age may be older or younger than its
actual age. "Say you have a cracked window, thread-bare carpet, some
tiles falling off the shower surround, vinyl torn in the laundry room,
and the dog ate the corner of the fireplace hearth, these items could
still add up to an overall average condition rating as the home is still
habitable, however your effective age will be higher resulting in
comparables being utilized which will have the same effective age and
resulting lower value," Doreen Zimmerman, an appraiser in Paradise,
California, tells the Wall Street Journal.
Fix anything that will age the home in the eyes of the appraiser.
3. Give the Home a Quick Cleaning
Most
appraisers will tell you that it doesn't matter if your home is clean
or dirty - it has no bearing on its value. We, on the other hand, know
how illusions can sell, and if a clean house gives the illusion that the
home has been well-maintained, what harm can it do to clean it before
the appraiser's arrival? I don't know about you, but before I trade in a
car at the dealership, I give it a good cleaning.
"Things like overgrown landscaping, soiled carpeting,
marks on walls - those do affect value and are part of the property's
overall condition rating," Dean Zibas, of Zibas Appraisal in San
Clemente, California, tells the Wall Street Journal.
While some things impact a home's value more than
others, the bottom line is that the process can vary by appraiser.
Anything you can do in the three areas listed above has the potential to
streamline the appraisal process and increase the value of your home.
Plus, going through these steps prior to listing your home will only
help increase the number of potential buyers. And ultimately, selling
your home is what it's all about.
For a free Personalized Estimate of your home's value, contact The Ehrke Team at:
http://www.leeehrkesellsazhomes.com/sell/
Provide By: Market Leader
