GavaldaFX Forex Blog

Purchasing a new home comes with a lot of responsibilities. For most people, it will be their biggest and most important life investment, so you need to be aware of what is involved with such a large purchase in order to ensure that you have made the right decision.

The following is a list of factors to consider when buying a new home:

Determine Your Home Requirements: Before you purchase a new home, you should consider what type of home will be needed for your present and future needs. Do you have a family or will you be expanding your family in the future? How many bedrooms and bathrooms will you need? As well, what type of environment do you want to live in? Do you prefer a rural community or more urban. You also have to look at such areas as proximity to schools, retail stores, and work. As well, do you want a condo, duplex, or a home with a large property? You have to make sure you have considered all housing options. This will help narrow your search.

Financing Options: Financing is a major factor to take into consideration when buying a new home. The majority of new home buyers will have to get a mortgage. You must determine how much of a mortgage you can actually afford. Consider visiting a mortgage site and using their mortgage calculator. This tool will give you an estimate of how much you can actually afford. Remember you have to consider added expenses such as legal fees, closing costs, building inspector fees, title transfer fees, taxes…etc.

Mortgage Pre-approval: Before you find a new home, you should get a mortgage pre-approval from a trustworthy lender. This will help you narrow your home search. First, make sure you have a clean credit history. Check for any errors on your credit report and have them corrected. Pay off any outstanding bills. Comparison shop for a mortgage lender as mortgage products will vary. Consider whether you should get a fixed rate or variable rate. As well, look at the pros and cons of a 15 year and 30 year mortgage.

Hire A Real Estate Agent: Real estate agents have a great deal of knowledge about the housing market. They have knowledge of the community and their resources and amenities, the value of the other homes in the neighborhood, whether the price of a home for sale is fair, and how to properly make an offer and counter offer. They can also show you homes that meet your needs. As well, a real estate agent will know of any important issues about the home, property, and community.

Home Inspector: It is important to get a home inspector to inspect the home you are considering buying. An inspector will be able to note any problems with the structural integrity of the home, foundation, roof, septic, plumbing, electrical…etc. You do not want to buy a home and find out you have an enormous repair bill.

Buying new homes is not only an exciting time in your life, but is also a time that requires much thought and planning. Considering the above factors when purchasing a new home will help ensure that you purchase a home that is not only right for you and your family, but also a home that you can afford.

An innovative residential home builder Southwestern Ontario, provides energy efficient new homes in the Guelph homes, London Ontario Home and Kitchener home markets.

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There is definitely one positive thing that has come out of the housing market being in the gutter, and that would be the fact that a lot of bad agents have been weeded out. The better news for you is that if you are in the market right now, chances are that you will be able to find a very knowledgeable agent to represent you. In the past agents typically did a lot of their work in an office setting, and these days they need to be out doing the legwork to satisfy their clients. But though there are now more few and far between, be sure to avoid less experienced realtors.

There are still part time housewife’s out there who do a deal or two a year for some extra money. The checker at the local Von’s still dabbles when an unsuspecting victim falls into the web. Even the meter reader for the electric company will try to pass as a full time professional realtor. They are not doing their clients any favors.

In the recent years that the market has taken a dive, it has also taken a toll on realty activity in general. In my area alone, bank owned properties are 10% of their inventory and 40% of their sales. If you find yourself dealing with a realtor that hasn’t a clue what to do in the case of a bank owned or short sale property, you more than likely will not have a successful closing.

Here is a perfect example from my last escrow transaction. I had some clients that made an offer on a property that was out of our area. We of course held up our part of the bargain, and then sat back and waited to hear that the escrow was opened. In the last twenty sales I have had in the last year or so, there is almost always a complication with the bank opening escrow in a timely manner.

So in this deal, I had been waiting patiently on the bank. Then I became impatient. Then I investigated. And it turns out that weeks later, they finally admitted to filing the escrow with the wrong office. Then they attempted to claim we would be liable for delay fees. What?! I smacked them around and got it handled, but they were in complete denial of their wrong-doing.

If I had not had any experience with this sort of scenario, I might not have caught the mix up in time. Someone who works in the industry part-time can cost their client a lot of money in these situations. Be sure you enlist the services of someone who has worked in their field for quite some time and can offer you added protection in your home-buying.

You may not be aware that buying an REO, a bank owned property, is quite a different process then buying a property the old fashioned way, and it is extremely important that your Realtor understands the difference. Let me tell you why if your Realtor doesn’t know the vast difference between the two, how it can cost you a lot of money, and possibly cause you to all together lose your property.

Banks hold all the cards in a bank owned transaction. They don’t have disclosure requirements and set all the rules. They usually make the buyer sign an addendum that basically takes away most of the buyers protections and puts the ball squarely in the banks court.

The bank will set a timeline that they demand you stay on top of, or they will enforce consequences on you. The odd thing is that they can take all the time they need before they deliver any type of response to you. Almost a month ago, I was approved and have been holding money in escrow for a bank owned property. It took the bank three weeks into the thirty-day period before they even opened my escrow.

It took a full three weeks before we received my contract and addendum. Not so lucky for us that when we first signed into this contract, it stated that we would be charged $100 per day per Diem for every day that went past the thirty-day period!

They didn’t help us in anyway to meet our deadlines either. As you may already be aware, most short sales do not have a successful closing. Typically this happens because the listing agent that takes on the contract isn’t familiar with how a short sale works, but still takes the home anyway. In the same breath, REO’s can also turn out the same. In my case, the listing agent was very confident that he had all of his ducks in a row, and the bank was ready to close.

There seems to be this myth out there that you shouldn’t use a real estate agent when buying a new home from a builder. Here in Bucks County, as with other areas, this myth couldn’t be further from the truth. If you employ a good Bucks County real estate agent when buying new construction, they will be watching out for what’s best for you, working hard to get you a good price, offering other services that are essential to a smooth home purchase, and they do it at no cost to you.

Having Proper Representation: if you walk into a builder’s office without a Realtor, you will give up your opportunity to have an agent represent your best interests. The sales agent you meet represents the builder – no matter how nice they are, they cannot fully represent your best interests. If you use a Realtor, they will ask all the tough questions of the builder and negotiate items the sales agent would not admit are negotiable. Don’t forget that having a Realtor is free, so why wouldn’t you?

Negotiate a good deal: any good agent knows that everything is negotiable, even though the new home sales agent will tell you that the price is the price. Your realtor has the means to check recent sales data and current inventory that may aid in your negotiations. This is what we do for a living! We’ll do our best to get you the best price possible.

Provide additional services: there are so many little things that need to be done before, during and after escrow. In addition to referring you to all the right service providers, a good agent will also take care of much of the hassle for you. They will also prepare you for each step along the way to ensure you are not wasting time backtracking or making costly mistakes. Simple things like providing a contact list for local utility companies are examples of how a Realtor will make your purchase easier.

It’s free: when you employ a buyer’s agent, there is no cost to you regardless of whether you buy resale or new construction. The seller, in this case, the builder pays a “referral fee” to your agent for bringing you in to view their homes for sale. This is considered a marketing cost by the builder and calculated in to their bottom line on every deal and does not affect the price of your home.

So, I hope it is clear that using a Realtor when buying a home is the way to go. A good Realtor will offer you proper representation, get the best price, and provide useful services when buying a new home. Be sure to use a Realtor next time you buy a new home.

With a focus on Bucks County PA real estate, you can depend on The Curci Team of RE/MAX to ensure that your next home purchase exceptional.