Searching for a Home: Top things to know when looking for a home

Lori Elswick, 2010 President, Lorain County Association of REALTORS®

Lori Elswick 2010 LoCAR President

Members of the Lorain County Association of REALTORS® are committed to helping buyers and sellers understand the home buying and selling process.

Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Start by shoring up your credit.
Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct and fix any problems you discover.

Aim for a home you can really afford.
The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you'll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts and expenses affect what you can afford.
If you can't put down the usual 20 percent, you may still qualify for a loan.

There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low-interest mortgages that require a down payment as small as 3 percent of the purchase price.

Contact a REALTOR®.
Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, studies show that most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a REALTOR®.

Choose carefully between points and rate.
When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points--a portion of the interest that you pay at closing--in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time--say three-to-five years or more--it's usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.

Before house hunting, get pre-approved.
Getting pre-approved will you save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can't afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history.

Do your homework before making an offer.
Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months.

Hire a home inspector.
Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But that's just the bank's way of determining whether the house is worth the price you've agreed to pay. Separately, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.

Whether you need advice on certain school districts, financing and credit questions, or making that offer, REALTORS® work daily with buyers and sellers in helping them to achieve the dream of homeownership. Contact a REALTOR® today.

Buying a home can be one of life's most exciting experiences - and one of the most challenging. The more prepared you are at the outset, the less overwhelming and chaotic the process will be. Be sure to utilize the services of a professional -- a REALTOR® -- who can help guide you through the home buying and selling process. A REALTOR® with your local Lorain County Association of REALTORS® is trained to help you make your housing dreams become a reality.

The Lorain County Association of REALTORS® is one of more than 1,200 local boards and associations of REALTORS® nationwide that comprise the National Association of REALTORS®. The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing more than one million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

The Lorain County Association of REALTORS® offers a website that provides a complete listing of REALTOR® and industry Affiliate members (such as title companies, banks, home inspectors, etc.). If you are a first time homebuyer or a repeat buyer consider www.MyNewCommunity.net or www.LoCAR.org as a good source for information.

REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not all real estate sales agents are REALTORS®. All REALTORS® are members of NAR along with their State and Local Associations.