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Buying a
property
One of the
early steps in buying a home is to
realize that there are so many resources
available to you. Your number one
resource is a Realtor who can point
you to any and all other recourses that
will make your home buying experience a
pleasant one.
As a general
rule, you should be able to use this
check list in order to prepare your self
to be a home owner while understanding
there are minimal costs involved to
LOOK for a home, the final cost, a
home, is the main goal. Often we find
young or first time buyers have the
wrong idea of the home buying process.
Therefore they postpone decisions based
on what they "think" they know. Please
review our check list and if necessary,
use the contact information to the lower
left to reach us anytime. The
consultation is free.
Things you
need to do to prepare yourself as a
buyer.
1.
Maintain Good Credit.
As in any financial situation home
buying hinges greatly on your credit
rating. It is Extremely important that
you protect your credit rating as if it
were your child. This means basically
that if you are in a dispute with a
creditor over anything, resolve it
quickly. Be fair to yourself, but do not
withhold payments because you are angry.
Credit damage is hard to undo, even if
it was a mistake on the part of the
creditor.
2.
Maintain continuous and detailed work
history.
There is a misconception that if you
have not worked at ONE location for more
than two years then you cannot qualify
to buy a home. This is simply not true.
There are dozens of variable in how a
persons work history can be viewed. Any
other buyer can be self employed,
switching jobs or just having switched
jobs. Ask your Realtor to get you in
touch with a reputable Loan offer to
discover what you may not know about how
your work history effects home buying.
3. Take
the time to pre-qualify.
Pre-qualifying for a loan does not
guarantee you will get one. Basically to
means you sat down with a loan officer
and discusser your finances, work
history and ability to purchase a home.
Based upon how truthful you are to the
loan officer, they will "Pre-Qualify"
you for a certain loan amount. Many loan
officers will pre-qualify you at no
cost, in hopes that you return the favor
by using their services for a loan when
the time comes to make a purchase. So
you can also see, you can trust the loan
officer, just as a Realtor, they only
make their money when you buy. At this
point, you may begin shopping for a
home.
The
prequalification step is an important
one to your Realtor as well. It insures
them that you are serious about buying a
home and are not interested in wasting
their time without knowing your
abilities to perform. Realtors value
their time just as you do yours.
Very serious
home buyer may even consider moving so
far ahead as to be pre-authorized for a
loan. to find out more, ask your
Realtor.
4. Commit
yourself to a Realtor - At this
point, hopefully you are already
committed to a Realtor whom has already
referred you to a reputable loan
officer. They really do know best in
regard to this as they work with loan
officers and bank agents as a
profession. They base their knowledge on
experience and in a sea of loan officers
and cut rate programs, it is experience
that counts. What does it take to commit
to a Realtor? Tell them simply, "we want
you to be our Realtor".
Article
Courtesy of Andy Spliethof, Former
Realtor and Oregon State Licensed Real
Estate holder. Medford, Oregon
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