Top Things To Look For In A Home Purchase
Dear Friends,
Whether you are a first time home buyer or you're considering moving for the umpteenth time where you decide to call "home" means so much and is so different for everyone of us. There are so many factors to think about and then there's the "needs" verses the "wants" list.
Let try to put some parameters in place here to help you find your next home.
Price Point
Deciding what your price point is starts off with getting connected to a good lender. You can go the "big bank"route, such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, etc. or there's the online route, such as Lending Tree but what sellers look for most of all is that you are a solid and secure financial borrower and that comes most trusted by a private lender. (more to come on this subject on a later post) Your lender, no matter what route you take will give the amount the underwriter is willing to lend you based on your credit, job security, income, outstanding debt, etc. Then you have to decide what monthly mortgage payment are you comfortable making based on your household budget. I also recommend before you start the process to get on CreditKarma.com and make sure there are no surprises waiting to be found on your credit.
Location, Location, Location
No matter the reason, we always move for location. We re-locate for jobs, getting married, schools for our kids, shorter commutes, closer to our community, or more rural space, all depending on our desires for our lifestyles. Now within any given area are also specific neighborhoods. A great resource to find out local news for a given neighborhood is to go to nextdoor.com. A trusted realtor should be knowledgeable to help guide you toward this information.
Quality of the Home
Any home can get all spruced up and looking great for an open house, but once those freshly planted flowers in the pots die what is really holding the house together? It's very important to consider the curb appeal and the quality of the finishes and workmanship of the home. Whether old or new quality materials and workmanship will last many years and poor materials and poor workmanship will not. Now if you are willing to put in the work and you've got the vision to improve then that's great, but if not you'll need to consider the time, effort and money the home will require to maintain and upkeep. A trusted property inspection is always a great tool to gauge the coming expenses of the home and what should be maintained before close of escrow and what will need to be attended to at a later time. I always advise seller's to provide the property inspection so as a seller you are taking responsibility of anything that needs repair as well as you don't get surprised and have the buyer cancel the contract.
Hope these tips are helpful. If you have a vendor that you have used and would recommend I'd be more than happy to add them to my list of trusted referrals. (Hope to have referrals on the blog soon.)
Thanks of you time. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of any assistance to you. And if you get the chance I am never too busy to take a referral from one of your friends or family.
Bless Your Home,
Casey Moutier
Whether you are a first time home buyer or you're considering moving for the umpteenth time where you decide to call "home" means so much and is so different for everyone of us. There are so many factors to think about and then there's the "needs" verses the "wants" list.
Let try to put some parameters in place here to help you find your next home.
Price Point
Deciding what your price point is starts off with getting connected to a good lender. You can go the "big bank"route, such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, etc. or there's the online route, such as Lending Tree but what sellers look for most of all is that you are a solid and secure financial borrower and that comes most trusted by a private lender. (more to come on this subject on a later post) Your lender, no matter what route you take will give the amount the underwriter is willing to lend you based on your credit, job security, income, outstanding debt, etc. Then you have to decide what monthly mortgage payment are you comfortable making based on your household budget. I also recommend before you start the process to get on CreditKarma.com and make sure there are no surprises waiting to be found on your credit.
Location, Location, Location
No matter the reason, we always move for location. We re-locate for jobs, getting married, schools for our kids, shorter commutes, closer to our community, or more rural space, all depending on our desires for our lifestyles. Now within any given area are also specific neighborhoods. A great resource to find out local news for a given neighborhood is to go to nextdoor.com. A trusted realtor should be knowledgeable to help guide you toward this information.
Quality of the Home
Any home can get all spruced up and looking great for an open house, but once those freshly planted flowers in the pots die what is really holding the house together? It's very important to consider the curb appeal and the quality of the finishes and workmanship of the home. Whether old or new quality materials and workmanship will last many years and poor materials and poor workmanship will not. Now if you are willing to put in the work and you've got the vision to improve then that's great, but if not you'll need to consider the time, effort and money the home will require to maintain and upkeep. A trusted property inspection is always a great tool to gauge the coming expenses of the home and what should be maintained before close of escrow and what will need to be attended to at a later time. I always advise seller's to provide the property inspection so as a seller you are taking responsibility of anything that needs repair as well as you don't get surprised and have the buyer cancel the contract.
Hope these tips are helpful. If you have a vendor that you have used and would recommend I'd be more than happy to add them to my list of trusted referrals. (Hope to have referrals on the blog soon.)
Thanks of you time. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of any assistance to you. And if you get the chance I am never too busy to take a referral from one of your friends or family.
Bless Your Home,
Casey Moutier
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