When you decide to begin the house hunting process there are a few vital pieces of information that you will need as well as some key factors to consider. You are going to need a real estate agent to take you into houses and help you find the property you want to live in. To acquire a real estate agent, you can ask family members or friends if they have recommendations. It is very common for family and friends to have a trusted agent that they refer others to use. If you do not have family or friends to ask there is another way to acquire a realtor. You can ask co-workers, existing neighbors or even consult the internet. A web search of local agents will yield many results. You can weed through these suggestions by checking out customer reviews. Sites like yelp and other service review sites allow clients and customers to rate their experience with various types of business professionals.
Just because you have a real estate agent does not mean you are ready to start your home search. Many realtors require a pre-approval letter from a lending institution. This letter shows the agent that you have been approved for a certain amount of money for a loan. Your income and debts are taken into consideration when the lender processes your information and produces this letter. This letter is important for two reasons. Some people just want to be nosey and look inside houses. These people have no intention of buying and quite possibly cannot get approved for a home loan. These people are wasting a realtors time and taking away valuable time for someone who is ready to purchase. If someone is not able to become approved for a home loan but is working on repairing their credit in hopes to one day purchase; they can still tour houses by attending open houses. Real estate agents also ask for a pre-approval letter so they know how much their client can spend. This letter allows them to find out here now how much they can broaden their search criteria to. Some customers will say they can approve more than the lender believes they should spend. Pre-approval letters leave all information in black and white. Many realtors can recommend reliable and knowledgeable lenders to help their clients acquire pre-approval letters.
When you have your pre-approval letter and your real estate agent you will then schedule a sit-down appointment with your agent. Your agent will have your financial search criteria ready to enter into the MLS (multiple listing service) but will need more information from you. Your agent will ask you what type of home you want to live in. Options include condo, townhouse, rowhome, duplex or single-family house. Your agent will ask for the neighborhoods you will consider living in to add into the search proximity. You will also need to know how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want in your property. Once your agent has all this information, they’ll start a search in the listing service to bring results for properties that meet your criteria that are currently available for purchase. You will select from those properties and then begin touring houses in hopes to purchase your own home.
