I am asked all the time what are the 5 most important things the consumer can do to make their home buying experience a little less stressful. Looking back over all my years of experience and seeing the changes in the market, I have to say that there is rarely a stress free buying experience. There will always be something that pops up that will always get worked out but will give you an adrenaline shot till it does. But here are some tips on making it a little easier:
- Fix your credit! When your score is better that 700 you will have a better chance of getting the best interest rate and lower closing costs.
- Run your credit at http://bit.ly/t3nhR this services is the only free credit report service sanctioned by the government.
- Get pre-approved. Pre-qualification is nice to find out how much you should spend, but pre-approval shows that you are ready to buy and gives you a little leverage when negotiating the price for the property you want to buy.
- Get the property inspected. This is really important even if it is new construction. Most builders are reputable but there are a few that may cut corners and you want to be able to find those corners before you buy and move in.
- Read your title. Make sure that if you are thinking about expanding your home or building something else on the property that there are no restrictions. This may not cause issues during the sale but they certainly will later on down the line after you’ve moved in.