Buying a home? How
do you start the process… where do you begin?
In our opinion
there is only one way to begin! Having decided that you are indeed ready to buy a house,
then the next thing to learn is how much you can afford to spend!
It's very
disheartening to find the perfect house to buy, and then discover that you cannot get the
finance, or simply cannot afford it. We recommend very strongly that you check your
financial situation with a range of lenders so that you have an idea of how much you can
afford. For more information on this, visit our finance pages.
Now that you know
what you can afford, it is time to get down to business! This is often the fun part of
starting the search for the perfect home to buy.
The first step is
to determine what your requirements are. Identify your requirements and split them between
what is absolutely needed and what is just a “wish list”. Ask yourself these
questions… we suggest you write them down for review later on.
 How much space do
you need? Is your family growing?
What type of house
would you like? Single story? Two story? A pool house?
Townhouse?
What sort of
community would you like? Gated? Rural property?
What areas of town
do you prefer? Why do you prefer them?
Are you looking
for specific amenities close to hand? Shopping? Employment? Parks for the kids?
How many rooms do
you need?
What size family
room? What sort of kitchen?
2 or 3 car garage?
Large yard, or low
maintenance smaller yard?
For most people,
buying a house is not only the biggest financial decision of their lives, it is also one
of the most emotional. Many potential homebuyers make the same mistake – they allow
their emotions to cloud their decision. At AV HomeConsultants, we know this very well
– we have seen the heartbreak of disappointment and the emotional distress of not
finding the perfect house to buy.
We believe that
this can be overcome by a very simple strategy that allows the homebuyer to find the best
possible house, without the distress of emotional disappointment.
Our strategy is
this. Take all the information you have written down about what you want in a house, and
split it into two groups. One group is the “must haves” – those things that
you absolutely MUST have before even considering a house to buy. The second list is a
“wish list” and contains all the things you would like to have, but see them as
a bonus. These two lists will become invaluable when you start doing more research or talk
to a realtor about your needs.
Having determined
your “must haves” and your “wish list” it is time to start doing some
serious research. One of the best place to start is to read the “homes” section
of your newspapers to get a feel of what is
available for the money you can afford to pay. Then, start driving around and
“getting a feel” for the neighborhoods you are interested in. Talk to the local
residents, and perhaps the storekeepers in the area. Drive through at different times
during the day and night. Make sure you are comfortable with the area. Friends and family
are often a good source of information and can help you to determine what areas you would
like to live in.
Having done this
research, we recommend very strongly that you contact a local professional realtor (if you
haven’t already done so) who will be able to help you refine your search and find
just the right house.
Kent sez: “The
earlier you bring a professional real estate agent into your search for a new home, the
more money and time you will save.”
Of course, you can
do it all yourself (and we hope to give you all the tools you need to do this), but there
are many benefits to be had by working with the right realtor. Click here for a
discussion of the benefits of using a local realtor.
Select a number of
properties from your professional realtor and make arrangements to walk through them on
several occasions. There are many things you may not notice on the first visit. Be sure to
open cabinets and look inside, turn on the faucets, look for signs of mildew or dampness.
Open and close doors, walk through the yards, and examine the house from the other side of
the street. This is a big investment – you want to know that the house is right for
you! Compare the features of the house with your “must have” list – if it
does not meet every point, forget about it regardless of how much you love the way it
looks – it will not be right for you if it does not have all the “must
haves”. You are better off moving on to the next possible house than trying to
justify why you do not need that particular “must have” that it doesn’t
have!
It may help to
rate each home on a scale of 1- 10 then write down the major things that impacted you
while you were inspecting it. This can be used later as a way to compare the different
houses as you sit down to consider which may be the right one for you.
Examine your wish
list and see if it has most of those features. If it meets some or all of your wish list,
and you love the way it is designed and looks, or you see its potential to be just what
you dreamed of, congratulations! You may just have found the perfect house to buy!
When you have
found a house you would like to buy, it is a matter of making an offer to the seller, and
the seller accepting the offer. You will need to be able to make a good faith deposit
(which could be from $500 - $5,000) when you make an offer to buy a house, and will also
need to show the seller that finance is not a problem. This is usually done with a
prequalification letter. Refer to our finance section for more
information on this.
We hope this
information has been helpful to you. If you are ready to start looking to buy a home, why
not check out “Petersens Picks”
which is a selection of Kent’s more interesting properties currently for sale in the
Antelope Valley. If you would like to know more about the Antelope Valley, click here. We'd love to
answer any questions you might have - contact
us. You may find that the Antelope Valley offers a bit more than you
expected… after all, we think it's a great place to live!
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