Buying Your First Home

Buying your first home is a very important transaction and a big investment.  There are certain steps  you can follow to help make the whole process of buying your first home go a lot smoother.

• Make sure your credit is in good standing as lenders look at that to determine if you qualify for a mortgage.  They base their decision on your income, your assets, your employment and your credit score.

• Create a budget for yourself and start saving your money for the costs associated with owning a house.

• Get pre-approved for a mortgage so you know how much you can afford to pay for a house.

• Find a competent real estate salesperson to represent your interests and help you negotiate. 

• Be sure to have the home inspected by a professional home inspector to look for serious issues.

Home Staging vs Interior Decorating

Some people think home staging and interior decorating are the same, but they are completely different.

Home staging is preparing a home for sale by making it more appealing to many buyers, which helps it sell faster.  It's more than just cleaning and decluttering.  It's about making it warm and inviting.  This can include painting, repairing and adding accessories.

Interior decorating is decorating a home to create personal comfort.  It's fixing up the place according to personal taste.

Sales Representative vs Private Sale

Some people prefer to use a real estate sales representative to buy or sell property, while others are more comfortable doing it themselves.  Whether or not one method is better than the other depends on the individual. 

Hiring a sales representative can be convenient because they help relieve most of the stress.  They do all the paperwork, arrange showings for sellers and help buyers find the perfect property.  In return for their services a fee must be paid.  Some people don't mind paying the commission because it saves them a lot of time and effort. 

Some people may decide to sell privately so they don't have to pay the commission to a sales representative.  The disadvantage is if they are buying they won't have the experience a sales representative has to negotiate a price.  If they are selling they will have to pay for advertising and do some market research to ensure they are listing their home for the right price.