Clarksville Real Estate

Here are five tips for anyone interested in buying a home.

1. Get pre-qualified for a home loan before you go home shopping. A local bank can tell you how much house you can afford based on your current debt and income. When you are done with this short meeting, which can be done over the phone or in person, you will know what price range to search within. Your total payment will include taxes and insurance. Ask a friend or your Realtor for recommendations on local lenders.

2. Find a good local Realtor to help you in your home search. As a buyer you do not pay for the services of your Realtor, but you can still benefit from having a Realtor represent you. A Realtor can help with your search criteria, schedule appointments and help get you from one showing to the next. Once you find the home you like your Realtor can help you determine the market value, draft your offer and navigate you through the inspection, appraisal and closing process.

3. Keep a “Top Three” list as you search for your home. Once you have looked at a few homes, rank them and keep a top three list of your favorites as you go along. When you find another home you like only put it in your top three if you are willing to remove one that is already on the list. This will help you from mixing up all the homes and having them all run together. At the end of your search you can visit your top three homes again to refresh your memory before you make your offer.

4. Make a “+ and -” list. When you have a couple homes that you like and it is hard to make up your mind which home to go with make a list of good and bad things about each home. Make a plus column for all the good items you can think of about the home and a minus column for all the negatives. This may be helpful in deciding which home to go with.

5. Don’t skip the home inspection. For about $250 you can get your home inspected before you buy it. This is a small amount to pay on the front end to keep you from having to potentially pay much more down the road.  If there are major concerns that show up on the inspection you can terminate the contract and move on to another home. If there are important repairs needed you can ask the seller to have the repairs done professionally so you can start out with a trouble-free home. If the home is new construction a home inspection is still a good idea. If an inspection is not done, the builder’s warranty may run out before you notice the problem.

These tips should help you have a more enjoyable transaction. If you have any questions or are ready to get started with your search feel free to give me a call. 931-801-8660 or email me at cblack@realtracs.com.