Looking to buy a home in Central Alabama?
Home buying simplified. Get Educated. Get Pre-Approved. Find Your Dream Home.
Are you a buyer or future buyer? Let us guide you to buy a Central Alabama home.
Let’s get educated on the subject!
It’s a great idea to get started by finding a great real estate agent to assist you. (Click HERE for some tips on how to choose an agent.)
Once you’ve decided on an agent, these are the most important first two steps to buy a home:
STEP 1. Pre-Approval to Buy a Central Alabama Home:
Finding out how much home you can afford is a critical step early in the process to buy a home. You need to to see how much home you may afford. Talk with your lender and get pre-approval before you look for homes.Many buyers find they have issues with your credit. They may need to bring up a credit score or lower the overall amount of payments they make each month (their debt ratio). If you need to work on your credit, this is the time to start on a plan. If you don’t already lender yet, let us know and we can give you a list of some awesome folks to work with.
STEP 2. Search for Central Alabama Homes to Buy:
You already know the internet is a great place to get started to learn about the local real estate market. Most people find their homes on the internet. In addition, often sellers do not always have signs on their homes for sale. We all know newspaper listings and magazines are incomplete and often not the most up to date. So it’s no wonder over 90% of home buyers start their search on the internet. You are definitely starting your search in the right place.
1. Get access to all the most up to date listings of interest to you:
New homes for sale hit the market daily–and over the course of the day. Because of that, you need access to the most up to date and accurate listing information. This will help ensure you see all the newest listings right away. Keep in mind that all Real Estate Agents are Realtors. Realtors typically have access to information others do not.
Also, the best Realtor will help you sort through the locations and home features that best suit you to buy your future Central Alabama home. This includes setting up customized searches so you are not inundated with information that is not useful. Your Realtor will help you focus on seeing the properties that meet your needs and investment preferences. In this way you won’t spend time on listings that aren’t of interest. You can start your home search right here.
2. View Central Alabama homes with your Realtor:
The best Realtor will help you narrow down the homes you are most interested in and arrange a showing. It is almost always best to view two to a maximum of four properties in one time block. This allows for comparison and discussion without overwhelming you. Your agent will guide you to evaluate each property depending on how it matches your preferences. This will help you refine your focus. By working together, your agent can help you avoid spending hours and days looking at homes that are not a good fit.
3. Find out facts on Central Alabama homes you’re interested in:
After you have narrowed down your top two or three homes, your agent will help you through the decision-making process, which will include gathering additional information. You will want to compare the properties that most interest you. This will include keeping in mind the features that are most important to you.
It is challenging to find the “perfect” home, but it is easier when you have a clear idea of what is most important to you. This means understanding features that are essential and those that are nice but not required. You also will want to research important information about the home, its history, neighborhood, zoning issues, utilities, and nearby plans for development. Your agent can assist you with answering these important questions and connecting you to helpful resources.
Things to think about to buy a Central Alabama home:
Just remember: Browsing the listings for weeks or months is one way search out the deals. Looking at listings online can be a helpful starting point to motivate you to dive in deeper. But sorting out what you really want and weighing the investment potential of each property can be difficult. Also, you will find the most desirable properties tend to move more quickly. So it’s important to see new listings and price changes as soon as possible. In addition, it can be very disappointing if you start finding homes of interest before you are ready to make an offer. But doesn’t have to be so hard or discouraging.
Don’t make a life altering mistake when purchasing a home. I see people make expensive mistakes every day. Be educated and learn about the market and the neighborhood you will love to call home. The real estate business and the market have changed so much just in the past few years. Be sure you do your homework and have a knowledgeable REALTOR® to assist you early on in the process.
If you’d like to know about the home buying process, we’d love to tell you all about it. Check out the infographic below for an overview of how to buy a home. And Contact me with any questions or for your own personalized buyer consultation. Read More for more details on home buying simplified for you.
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