Saturday, December 5, 2009

Check List For Would Be First Time Property Buyer

By Billy Chen

You have long been contemplating to buy a first house for the family. But before you start making your house search and shopping for lender, make sure you answer these questions first to assess your real need and possibility to own a house of your own.

1. Buy only if you plan to stay long term If you are already aware of the fact that you are not going to stay there longer than three years, perhaps it is not time to own one yet. Because the cost of owning the property and subsequently selling it in short time would mean that you are likely end up poorer, even if you see your property has appreciated in value. When the market is bad, the loss you have to suffer could be even unimaginable.

2. Boost your credit rating Before you head to the bank for your mortgage application to buy a house, make sure you have an impeccable credit report. When you spot problems on the report, make an effort to correct and fix them. Your credit report would play a big part in deciding if a lender is going to grant you the loan.

3. Find appropriate home loan Banks generally can loan customers up to 80% of the purchase, or 90% for exceptional cases. But there are a lot of factors involved including payback period, your income, age price, locked in considerations, etc. For this reason, it is advisable you use the online calculator to have an overall appreciation of all possible combinations for the loan amount you desire.

4. Size of down payment As mentioned above, banks expect you to put up at least 20 percent of purchase price. When you are not able to pay that amount, you may have to talk to some other lenders like the sub-prime folks.

5. Buy into hot location with good schools If possible find a site where there are a number of popular schools. Reason is school districts are a top consideration for buyers who have school going children. When you want to sell your property, you can ask for a premium on top of a fair evaluation price.

6. Enlist the help of property agent While Internet is useful disseminating valuable information like home listings, when it comes to a time to follow up, like physical home inspection, negotiating terms and price, human type interaction cannot be avoided. It can be a good idea to get help from exclusive buyer agent as they can help to take care of all these hassles on your behalf and acting on your interest.

Finally, when you choose to go ahead with the house hunting, get ready for some serious work. Always do a background check on the property that interest you, before you get to meet the prospective seller or the representative. You would want to find out the sales trend of similar housing type in the nearby area. Check the most recent transacted prices. This way you will walk into the negotiation confident and talk your way into buying that dream home of yours. - 23204

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