10 Rules for Buyers
10 Simple Rules for 1st Time Home Buyers
1- Know what you can afford to spend. Take into account operating costs of the home and incidentals. Don’t stretch yourself to thin.
2- Find out if you qualify for buying help. The US Dept of Housing and Urban Development and Nassau County offer many programs to help first time buyers. Go to the HUD website to see if you qualify: www.hud.gov or call Nassau County
516-571-0369
3- Get Pre Qualified for a loan. It is important to get qualified for the most possible but realize that you must be comfortable with the payments.
4- Only look at houses that you can afford. Be realistic so that you do not waste time looking at houses you can’t afford. Remember that Real Estate is Local and even though the national Real Estate picture is bleak good neighborhoods are still in demand. Home Owners are flexible with their prices but most are not going to lower their price $75,000.
5- Realize that the most important factor in buying your home is the location. Houses can be modified, but neighborhoods can’t. Make sure you are in love with the neighborhood.
6- Think about resale, when you find a house that you like. Think about how it might be looked at by future buyers. Maybe bordering a cemetery is not a big deal to you, but will it be to the next buyer?
7- Have the house inspected and carefully review the engineer’s report. Even if the house looks brand new you must protect yourself. Paying $500 to insure your investment is worth it.
8- Come up with a negotiating strategy and be realistic in pursuing it. The seller must by law take care of certain things such as a leaky roof, but does not have to take into account that you want to redo the floor plan by knocking down walls. Do not try to knock down your bid because you don’t like the color of the siding.
9- Make Sure you have enough money to cover closing costs in addition to what you plan on putting down as a down payment. Figure you will need anywhere from $10,000- $15,000 for closing costs.
10- Use a Realtor who you trust. There are many houses on the market now, and it would be impossible for anyone to see all of them. I can streamline the process and not show you houses that are not worth seeing. Think about using a Buyer’s broker
.
