Tuesday, September 13, 2011 / by Ira Miskin
To Know What You Want – Learn What You Need
Developing a strategy for buying the right home is both an art as well as a science. The art is understanding your wants. The science is identifying your needs. Combining the two provides a picture of the right home for you.
Here is a short primer on some of what your Realtor and their Team will help you identify to get you started on the path to successful home buying. It all starts with writing it down. You can call it the wish list, the want list, the need list. But it’s really all three.
Start with the most important first step you can take – meeting with a Lender to get pre-approved for a home loan. Your Realtor will have home loan specialists on their Team who can offer a menu of options for loans. They can provide you with information about the various programs offered, whether or not you qualify for special programs like 203K FHA renovation loans, what you must do to qualify for a home loan, and how much of a home loan can you afford. With a pre-approval letter in hand, you now know what price home you can purchase.
Next you will begin putting all of your specific criteria on paper, developing an image of the size, style and location of the home that fits all your specific criteria. For example, you may want a home in the Walton High School District in Marietta GA, or you want to live in the Milton GA or Alpharetta GA community. You like the schools, but how long will your commute time be to work? How many bedrooms will you need? How about a basement – will storage or expansion be important to you? Big lot and back yard – room for the kids to play, love gardening? How about a master bedroom on the main level vs. all the bedrooms upstairs? And you’ve only just begun. Here’s where working with your Realtor to develop that list in order to generate a daily HomeHunter ® Service list of homes pays off.
Knowing your budget will also help you focus your wish, want and need lists. For example, a $225,000 budget will buy a newer construction 4 bedroom, 2.5 Bath home on a full basement in the Sprayberry High School District of Marietta GA, but perhaps a somewhat older 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in the Walton High School District of Marietta GA. Are you handy? Will taking on a lower priced foreclosed property in Alpharetta GA needing fix-up work to make it your dream home help you bridge cost vs. size vs. location issues? Or, is new home construction in a new home community in Woodstock GA a better choice for you?
As you can see, wandering through the maze of options available is not the best way to find the right home in the best location at the lowest price with the least hassle. Engaging a Realtor with a Team of specialists who can help you focus on the best properties for you – those that meet the important criteria you identify - will not only simplify your search, it will go a long way toward making it more memorable and enjoyable experience. To help you get started here’s a brief video – How To Make The Most From Your Home-Buying Experience that will outline the process we’ve been talking about.
Because buying or selling a home is a process and a journey, not an event, you will want to subscribe to our free video e-mail series for home buyers and sellers. For access to the complete series of free video and informational emails that can provide you with many of the important strategies and information you will need to make the best home buying or selling decisions you can CLICK HERE ==> SPECIAL E-MAIL SERIES REPORTS and ask for the free no obligation series of email reports to be sent to you regularly over the next few weeks. Just put FREE VIDEO EMAIL SERIES in the subject line and let us know if want the home buyer or home seller series.
If you just want to start out by searching the MLS to see what types of homes are available in your projected price range and area of preference CLICK HERE => SEARCH THE MLS FREE
Here is a short primer on some of what your Realtor and their Team will help you identify to get you started on the path to successful home buying. It all starts with writing it down. You can call it the wish list, the want list, the need list. But it’s really all three.
Start with the most important first step you can take – meeting with a Lender to get pre-approved for a home loan. Your Realtor will have home loan specialists on their Team who can offer a menu of options for loans. They can provide you with information about the various programs offered, whether or not you qualify for special programs like 203K FHA renovation loans, what you must do to qualify for a home loan, and how much of a home loan can you afford. With a pre-approval letter in hand, you now know what price home you can purchase.
Next you will begin putting all of your specific criteria on paper, developing an image of the size, style and location of the home that fits all your specific criteria. For example, you may want a home in the Walton High School District in Marietta GA, or you want to live in the Milton GA or Alpharetta GA community. You like the schools, but how long will your commute time be to work? How many bedrooms will you need? How about a basement – will storage or expansion be important to you? Big lot and back yard – room for the kids to play, love gardening? How about a master bedroom on the main level vs. all the bedrooms upstairs? And you’ve only just begun. Here’s where working with your Realtor to develop that list in order to generate a daily HomeHunter ® Service list of homes pays off.
Knowing your budget will also help you focus your wish, want and need lists. For example, a $225,000 budget will buy a newer construction 4 bedroom, 2.5 Bath home on a full basement in the Sprayberry High School District of Marietta GA, but perhaps a somewhat older 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in the Walton High School District of Marietta GA. Are you handy? Will taking on a lower priced foreclosed property in Alpharetta GA needing fix-up work to make it your dream home help you bridge cost vs. size vs. location issues? Or, is new home construction in a new home community in Woodstock GA a better choice for you?
As you can see, wandering through the maze of options available is not the best way to find the right home in the best location at the lowest price with the least hassle. Engaging a Realtor with a Team of specialists who can help you focus on the best properties for you – those that meet the important criteria you identify - will not only simplify your search, it will go a long way toward making it more memorable and enjoyable experience. To help you get started here’s a brief video – How To Make The Most From Your Home-Buying Experience that will outline the process we’ve been talking about.
Because buying or selling a home is a process and a journey, not an event, you will want to subscribe to our free video e-mail series for home buyers and sellers. For access to the complete series of free video and informational emails that can provide you with many of the important strategies and information you will need to make the best home buying or selling decisions you can CLICK HERE ==> SPECIAL E-MAIL SERIES REPORTS and ask for the free no obligation series of email reports to be sent to you regularly over the next few weeks. Just put FREE VIDEO EMAIL SERIES in the subject line and let us know if want the home buyer or home seller series.
If you just want to start out by searching the MLS to see what types of homes are available in your projected price range and area of preference CLICK HERE => SEARCH THE MLS FREE