Building a New Home or Buying a Resale?

 

SHOP SMARTER NOT HARDER-

Use a professional to help you answer these questions and provide the smoothest transaction possible.

Ask yourself these questions:

How much house can you afford?

What type of house do you want?

What do I need to get my financing in order?

How do I make the best decisions on my purchase?

Why do I need earnest money and what happens to my earnest money?

How does the seller prove the title is clear?

What does the title company do?

How do you decide what to offer?

What conditions will you include in an offer?

What is the difference between closing and possession?

What are closing costs and pre-paids and who pays them?

What are the loan charges? What are points?

 

Like all buyers before purchasing you have somewhat of an idea the things that you hope to find in your new home. Whether you have written a list or just have the list in your head, you have already considered such things as bedroom and bathroom count, garage space, if you are considering a single or multi-story home (or both), what features you want the home to include, location, perhaps schools if you have kids and much more.  Sometimes as you start looking your list may change or get altered due to what is available or what you can afford. Sometimes when looking you will see something that you didn’t know you wanted, or that you wanted and once you saw it wasn’t what you expected.

Builders are back strong in the market as players competing with the short sales, bank owned and traditional sale homes.  There is no guessing if you have the winning bid, you just get the home, if you qualify. They offer spec homes in many cases where the home is already started or ready to move in. You can even build from the ground up. They can offer a wide variety of upgrades and incentives to entice you to buy from them not to mention the home is brand new.  It has the new smell; brand new never lived in feel and you can truly call it your own. You can often put in your own choices of upgrades, flooring, fixtures, appliances and more. Whether it is a tract home or a custom you have some input as to what goes into your house and produces a home unique to you. Your likes and dislikes are considered and replicated.  You may feel you have a little more control of your purchase choices.

When buying resale you can pick from a variety of houses that are currently for sale in the marketplace. The Realtor Multiple Listing Service offers a large database of homes for sale in your location. It has up-to-date information on active, pending and recently sold homes, keeps track of price changes, and offers pictures and information to help you decide which homes to go view. There are short sales, foreclosures, traditional sales, lease purchase, rent to own, seller carryback homes and even land if you are considering building your own custom home. You may not find the exact home that fits your needs, but something close enough to what you want often at a great price that you can consider remodeling or altering at some point.

Just remember whether you are buying new, resale or For Sale by Owner it is a good idea to include your Real Estate Agent to help with your purchase. They are the industry expert. They work for YOU, on your behalf. The agent selling for the builder works for the builder, the agent listing the home for sale works for the seller, and the owner of the For Sale By Owner house is trying to get themselves the best price possible. Find a great agent to represent YOU!