Monday, August 27, 2012

Investing In The American Dream - Tips For Buying Real Estate

By Randy Shawanda


Buying a home can be a nerve-wracking experience. This is not the time to be unprepared, or to leave things to chance. You need as much good advice as possible during this process. Read, and follow, the advice in this article so you can have a pain-free experience when purchasing real estate.

Make "you love it" the number one reason for your purchase of a new home. Ultimately, your home needs to be a comfortable and a safe place to live. Most homes appreciate in value over time around the rate of 5.4 percent. If you take care of your home and make improvements, an increased appraisal value is likely to follow, so don't factor appreciation too much into your decision. If you love a home, make an offer!

Do not be a sucker when you buy a new piece of real estate. Don't be dazzled by the first thing you see, even if it seems to be your dream home. No one wants to get ripped off. Often times wonderful houses sitting on the market too long may have a reason.

Most of the people have a hard time saving money. Buying a house and regularly making the mortgage payment is a great way to save. A portion of each payment goes towards paying off the principal of the house. In the beginning it is not too much, but later a larger portion of the payment goes towards the principal, which increases the equity of the property.

When planning out how much house you can afford to buy, don't forget to calculate in the maintenance costs of the home. Maintenance is one of the most expensive factors in owning a home, but it's something many first time homebuyers will forget about. Once you own the home, your landlord is no longer responsible if a pipe breaks, so save money for eventualities.

Fall may help you get a good idea about how well the home that you are considering buying has been cared for over the years. Take a minute to look at the gutters. If the leaves are overflowing out of them then you will know that they homeowner had not taken the time to clean them. If they do not take the time for that simple maintenance, think about the other things in the home they may have neglected.

Do your research before buying your first home. For the first time home buyer, it is an exciting but often confusing time. Before looking at any houses, learn about the financial aspects of purchasing a home: the difference between fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, closing costs, real estate tax and home insurance. Use a mortgage calculator to figure out exactly how much you can afford and get a pre-approval letter from your lender.

On the real estate market, the wise home buyer treats "fixer-upper" houses with considerable caution. Buying a house in obvious need of repair can save the buyer a lot of money, in the short run. Fixing such a house's problems can end up costing the new homeowner more than he or she saved, though.

With the knowledge you learned from this article you should feel more confident with purchasing real estate. The more knowledge you fill your brain with about real estate the more chance you have at making the decisions that should benefit you in real estate. So use the knowledge you learned from here and go out there and feel confident with your decisions.




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