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| Five Tips For The First Time Buyer |
1. Determine your specific needs as a first-time buyer. How much
room do you need? Are you concerned about schools? Commuting
time? Proximity to family and friends? Is this a starter home,
or are you likely to be here in five or ten years? Are you
buying at the height of or bottom of a market? What financial
resources do you have, or must you obtain, to purchase your
home?
2. Educate yourself about the types of homes available.
Determine which one(s) will meet your needs: detached
single-family home, multi-family home, condominium or new
construction? |
Understand the differences inherent in one type of
property over another. Conduct thorough research, and ask
specific questions about the type of property that you choose.
Check out some MLS Listings
3. Obtain valuable, publicly available real estate information.
You can research public records in government offices, or, more
easily online, where they are increasingly available. Aside from
http://domania.com, which offers
free access to comparable home sales, there are a handful of
real estate sites that offer other valuable real |
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estate data.
4. Hire a real estate representative. Interview several
candidates and check references. This can now be done on line
which makes it considerably easier than going to door-to-door.
5. Learn about special lending, qualification and down payment
programs for first-time homebuyers. You may also be eligible for
one of these programs if you are a veteran of military service,
or part of a work or affinity group. Learn all you can about
mortgages. Complement your intelligence-gathering with helpful
overviews, such as the Federal Reserve Board's free guide, |
Home
Mortgages: Where to Shop and What to Look For. Check out sites
like http://fanniemae.com and
http://freddiemac.com for more
information, and of course check out sites that applying easier,
like http://lendingtree.com
and http://Getsmart.com.
About the author:
The editorial staff of Domania lives and breathes home values.
Find more advice and real estate tools at http://www.domania.com
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