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The Home Buying Process The Home Buying Process
Buying a home is one of life's most important and exciting experiences. Given
the complexity of the transaction and the financial commitment involved, it is
imperative that you pay careful attention to the following areas of the
transaction.
1. Becoming an
educated buyer. This information will help you begin this process. In addition,
there are hundreds of books, other websites, and lots of well-intentioned
friends and relatives with advice to offer. Unfortunately, sifting through all
of this information presents its own set of problems. Real Estate laws vary
greatly from state to state and procedures change on what seems like a daily
basis. As a result, it's difficult to tell the good advice from the irrelevant
or out of date. You can solve this dilemma by establishing a close working
relationship with one Real Estate Agent. As a professional in the field, he (or
she) can use his (or her) education and experience to help you understand this
complex process.
2. Covering the
market. Given the importance of a home purchase, you'll want to make sure you
explore every option. In other words, see all of the homes that best suit your
needs.
Some buyers use the various
advertising media (newspaper, internet, magazines, etc.) to find appropriate
homes. This is a hit or miss system since homes are usually advertised on a
random or rotating basis. The best home for you may not be advertised when you
are doing your search. In fact, the hottest properties often sell before the
first ad appears. Your Real Estate Agent has access to complete, current
information on all of the homes listed by every company in the Multiple Listing
Service. Using the MLS computer system your agent can identify all of the
appropriate homes and update this list when new listings appear.
Sometimes home buyers
decide to work only with For Sale By Owners (FSBO) because they hope to save
money. This course of action shrinks their choices to a very small fraction of
the homes available since most homes are listed with Real Estate Companies. When
a home is listed, the seller has already agreed to pay the sales fee. There is
no additional charge to the buyer.
3. Reaching agreement with the seller. Once you've located the home you want, you'll need to sign a contract (Purchase and Sale Agreement) with the seller. At this time, negotiations between the buyer and seller will settle issues of price, possession date, repairs, and who will pay for what. This critical document spells out the rights and obligations of both buyer and seller. It is binding on both parties. Furthermore, issues overlooked by the contract are not binding on either party. This is not the time to "save" money. If you are not working with a good Real Estate Agent, you'll need to hire a good real estate attorney. By the way, attorneys seldom, if ever, see the house. It's not their job.
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