Cody Day
You have begun to look at single family homes for sale in your area and are interested in trading up your apartment for a home of your own. But before you jump into the process, be sure you hire a real estate agent and understand some basics of home buying in today's market. Here are some tips to help you when you purchase your home.
Look For Seller Concessions
When you are buying a home, there are some requests you can make from the seller to help you financially pay for a home. These concessions can help you up front or come into play over the life of the loan. A concession is essentially you asking the seller to cover some of your closing costs, but you agree to pay a bit more for the home. And as long as the home appraises for the offer you submit to pay for the home, you can do this in many markets.
For example, you are short the extra funds to put into your home's purchase closing costs, which can be several thousand dollars. However, you can ask the seller to pay for your closing costs out of the proceeds of the sale and in return you purchase the home from them. You would increase your purchase offer on the home by $5,000 for example, and ask the seller to pay for the same amount of your closing costs to cover the property tax, origination fee of your loan, title insurance, property inspection, appraisal fee, and the mortgage origination points to reduce your mortgage rate.
Buy the Right Type of Property
Another recommendation is to look at the right type of properties for your personal needs. For example, if you are single and only want a smaller home that does not have a yard that requires hours of yard work each weekend, you might want to shop for a condominium or a townhome with a managed yard. Or, if you are married with a couple small children, you might want a single family home with room to grow in a good residential area that has a fenced-in yard.
However, another option to consider is your need to get a roommate or another individual to help you out with your mortgage payment. You can look at buying a duplex or a single family home that has a basement apartment, which you can rent out on an ongoing basis. An income suite in the basement or next door to your duplex property will provide you with supplemental income that you can use to pay for your mortgage, complete repairs, or save up for emergency home expenses.
This website can serve as your home for information about real estate. Here, you will find articles about the buying process and others on the selling process. We've also included content related to getting a mortgage, finding a real estate agent, and scheduling an inspection. We hope that by addressing all aspects of the real estate world, we will make you better prepared to handle any real estate transactions that might be in your future. After all, real estate can be a really smart investment, but only if you buy the right home and know how much to offer. Start reading, and enjoy what you find.