Sunday, January 01, 2012

Avoid The Pitfalls Of Buying A Fixer Upper

By Julian O. Woods


Purchasing a piece of property is both thrilling and nerve-wracking. You could make costly mistakes if you don't make educated decisions. Avoid these mistakes by learning these tips below.

Save up enough of a down payment to satisfy your lender. You otherwise will need to pay for private mortgage insurance. As "private" as it may be, this PMI can accumulate into a rather hefty fund in addition to your current monthly bill. This technique lets the bank rest assured that you are capable of handling the bills without defaulting.

If you want to buy a house, make time to take its measurements. Make sure the listed square footage is in compliance with public records. These numbers should be fairly close to each other, to a tolerance of about 100 sq ft. If they don't match, find out more about the property and any changes that were made.

Put extra money aside before buying a house in case there are any closing costs you didn't consider when making the deal. Buyers usually calculate the closing costs by adding the down payment, the points to the bank and the pro-rated real estate taxes. But there can be even more costs at closing. These may include property taxes and assessments.

When trying to negotiate the purchase of real estate, don't be too accommodating or too inflexible. Try to strike a reasonable balance between the two approaches. Overly-aggressive bargaining tactics often backfire. Be clear and firm about what you want but let your lawyer or realtor do the negotiation for you.

If you hire a real estate appraiser, you want to make sure they have experience, preferably at a minimum of five years. Avoid hiring appraisers that are recommended by the real estate agency. It could cause a conflict in the interest of appraisal. You should also make sure that any appraiser you hire has either a state license or is state certified.

If you can, stay away from buying property that is facing or backs into a busy road. These houses can save you money, but as in most things, they are cheaper for a reason. With all the noise accompanying a home in this location, it may be quite a bit more difficult to sell should you ever choose to.

If you want to purchase a new home, do some research into the neighborhoods of any residences that you are interested in. Almost every town has plenty of information online. Do thorough research into any area in which you plan to purchase real estate. It is no fun to find out later that you have invested in dead-end real estate.

Don't start searching for a house until you have a mortgage prequalification letter from the bank in hand. You don't want to end up coming across the house of your dreams to be told that you can't get a large enough loan to buy it. In addition, the process of finalizing a loan can end up being tedious and long, so getting a head start will only be of benefit to you as you progress.

It should now be obvious to you why so many people are purchasing real estate, and building careers around it. There are many different ways to go about doing it, which is very helpful. You can also find lots of helpful ideas on how to search for and purchase real estate effectively. Utilize the tips in this article, and you will quickly find yourself becoming capable of making smart real estate buying decisions.




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