Know What You Can Afford To Spend

Before you begin to look for a home, you really need to go over your finances. First you should speak with a mortgage representative. This will allow you to find out if you can indeed get a mortgage, and for how much. Then, once you’ve been Pre-Approved, you can hunt for your perfect home. In addition, when you find it, you can show the seller that you are able to purchase the home.

Get Your Running Shoes and Move FAST

In today’s market, there is a lot of competition for available homes. This is especially in the starter home price bracket. You’ll want to be the first one to make an offer. So don’t hesitate, when you see what you want, have your Realtor write the contract before someone else does.

Make Your Best Offer

Have your Realtor perform a comparative market analysis. Armed with this information, you’ll have a good idea of what a property should be worth. Do you remember that Pre-Approval? Because this is when you need it. However, if the house is in need of major repairs, such as a roof or heating system, you should calculate that cost into your offer.

Be Prepared to Negotiate.

Unless you offer the full asking price, the seller will probably give you a counter offer. So make your first offer a little under what you’re willing to pay. However, you need to realize that the price is not the only important part of the contract that may require negotiations. Quite often, the closing date comes into play. Other things are important too. Once, we sold a home where the buyer would do the final cleanout after the closing. This was important because the seller was an elderly lady who couldn’t drag all the stuff to the curb for pickup. By doing your homework you may find out what’s important to the seller.

Once you get your Pre-Approval you can begin your home search. Or, you can call us, Bunny and Art Reiman, Realtors, and we will start searching for you. Or,  look at homes in other Monmouth County towns. Then give us a call when you find something interesting.

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