Advise to buyer (mortgage broker, credit, loan)

[nickindependence]

This advise works equally well to buyers who wish to use a Realtor or wish to buy without one.
In todays society people are alot more savy in buying real estate than ever before. This is great because an informed buyer is 10 times likely to end up buying exactly what they are looking for. The reasons for this turn is in no small part because of the technology revolution (meaning the internet). People can jump online and research the potential neighbourhoods they want to move to and research schools etc etc.

This is however only the beginning.

I have so many clients who come to me who have decided to look for homes in a certain price range only to later find that they cant afford them. This is difficult prticularly when they have found the ideal home they have fallen in love with only to have their hopes dashed. Similarly, i have clients who think they can only afford homes in a certain price range because they had a bump in their credit but in fact their credit has recovered and they can afford alot more. The moral of this story is get pre-qualified for a loan before you even start looking at properties. Doing this allows you to know exactly what your buying power is and can narrow your search so you know the neighbourhoods that are way out of your price range. But be careful. When selecting a mortgage broker shop around. An example i give is my wife and i recently purchased a home from a builder who told us if we use their preferred mortgage boker we would have all our closing costs paid. We qualified for a loan at 11%. We went to another boker who i highly recommend ( a friend of ours) who qualified us at 6.5% fixed for 30 yrs. Eventually the builder agreed to pay our closing costs because their preferred lender for want of a better word sucked. Just make sure you shop around for a loan. If you went to the doctor and was given bad news you would want a second opinion. Same with mortgages, but dont shop too much as each time your credit is run it lowers it slightly.

With Pre-qual in hand its time to shop. If a house is slightly over your budget, but you are serious about buying, put in an offer, whats the worse they can say, you never know you may be surprised, however, in this market, i recommend looking at as many properties as possible. Everyone wants your business and wants to sell. As a realtor its our job to show you all these houses. Dont feel like an inconvenience. But keep an eye on new builds aswell as some great deals can be had. Just watch out for the builders who build stock houses then charge you options for light switches etc.

Why would you want to use a realtor. There are some people on here who are rude and completely ignorant about Realtors. I have come across a few of them, and some people are stuck in their ways because they had a bad experience. God knows there are some bad ones out there...lol

I recommend if you choose a realtor to interview them. Find out if they can offer you what you want and work hard for you. You have to be on the same page. Your realtor should have good local knowledge and be able to offer valuable advice to you and your family. If you dont gel, find another one and interview them. There are plenty of us around.

I would also recommend when looking at homes look beyond the decor. Look at the area, floorplan and square footage, ameneties....etc
Decor is basically to each his own, its not expensive to change and you would want to put your own stamp on a property anyway. Too many people cant look beyond a properties potential. Bare in mind you can use this as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

Finally, DONT BUY THE FIRST THING YOU SEE. I say this because in this market if you cant find more than 1 house at the right price which suits all your needs then your either being unreasonable or you dont know what you want and arnt a serious buyer. There are thousands of properties out there waiting to be sold. Make sure you find the right one for you.

Good luck.

Nick