Information that will help you in the home-buying process

Form your “New Home” plan

Buying a new home can be a very stressful endeavor if not properly planned. On a “stress level scale”, an improperly planned move can rank right up there with losing your job, getting divorced, or having a serious illness. It’s important to sit down and give some thought to the necessary steps, and then “work the plan” to achieve your housing goals.

One key aspect is to allow plenty of time – start your planning early! A prospective buyer needs to start working the plan months before the intended moving date. Families with children typically want to move in June or July, and consequently need to start the process in February.  (It’s no coincidence of course that the “Spring Market” starts in mid-February)!  Allow at least 4 months from start to finish.

Here’s a suggested plan outline:

Step 1: Get Pre-Approved –

Every buyer needs to know how much they can afford to spend on a home. A qualified lender will gather information from you and then prepare a “good faith estimate” for a hypothetical property in your price range that includes not only your monthly expenses but how much cash you will need for a down payment and closing costs. You can then adjust your price range accordingly. In any case, almost all offers to purchase will have to have a pre-approval letter attached. Ask your Realtor for recommendations.

Step 2: Select Your New Home’s Location –

Based on desired school districts, job locations, style of homes in the area, and other factors such as proximity to public transportation, select the desired community/neighborhood in which you want to live.

Step 3: List “Must Have” features

Prepare a short list of the features that your new home “must” have, for example:

• Number of Bedrooms
• Number of Bathrooms
• Minimum square footage
• Move-in condition or “Fixer”?
• Parking requirements
• Basement
• Fireplace
• Wooded lot, Large lot, Flat Lot, etc

These are the features that your Realtor will use to identify prospective new homes to show.

Step 4: List “Would Like” features

Lack of these features aren’t “deal breakers”, but would be nice to have, such as:

• Refinished hardwood floors
• Gas fireplace
• Freshly Painted
• Nice landscaping
• New appliances
• Sprinkler system, and so on . . .

Step 5: Start Shopping!

Your Realtor will be able to guide you, but in general you should start looking at your favorite realty company website at least every few days, start going to Open Houses in your desired community/neighborhood, and go look at homes (ie, Showings) with your Realtor. Ask your Realtor to set up an automatic notification routine where you’ll be notified of any new listings meeting your requirements.

You will quickly learn if you need to modify your “must have” list, or desired community/neighborhood, to stay within your price range. Most buyers only look at 10-12 homes before finding one that meets their needs. When that happens, don’t wait, especially in that crucial February to June time period. You know how much you can spend, you know what you’re looking for, and you know where you want to live, so when you find it, submit an offer! That’s the whole point of all the planning!

Good luck!