How to Be a Smart Home Shopper

Every one wants to have their dream home someday, which is why most people save up with a real estate investment in mind. Here are some ways by which one can maximize their savings in buying a house:

• Look for a good location. This is the golden rule in real estate investment. It is recommended that prospective homeowners focus their search on places where there are a lot of establishments, such as shopping malls and restaurants, and plenty of nearby hospitals. If possible, they should also find a spot that will be relatively near to their work place. If not, they should assess if the commute to and from work will be feasible.
• Check the market for foreclosed or re-possessed properties. Some of these properties are 30% cheaper, especially if they are bought straight from the company that foreclosed the mortgage. The list of such properties are available online and in classified ads on newspapers. They can also go to banks, since they have their own set of re-possessed properties. This would be the easier option because banks won’t charge extraneous fees for purchasing a mortgaged house. Buyers will also be assured that the properties are vacant by the time that they need to move in.
• Assess the overall cost of the property. In the case of foreclosed or re-possessed houses, they will usually require some repairs and maintenance. First-time homebuyers should take these costs into consideration when computing the total cost of the house and lot.

In a way, those who are looking to invest in real estate should be thankful for the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Now is the perfect time to purchase property because prices are much more affordable than they were years before.

First Steps to Buying a Home

If you are contemplating buying yourself a home, you should know that there is a proper procedure that you should follow in order for you to be able to secure yourself a good house and to be able to ensure yourself that you will be able to finish paying off what you owe on such a house. For starters, before you do buy a home, you need to determine if paying mortgage every month is ideal in your area as compared to paying rent. If real estate costs in your area are high and seem pretty steep for your current and near future financial situation, it would probably be best to postpone buying a house until you are more financially stable. If conditions for buying a house in your area are favorable however, then you should take the following steps to secure yourself your first home:

-          Credit Score and Credit Report Check – it would probably be best if you check out your credit report and score before you take out a loan. This will help you determine up to what extent you can borrow money to buy a home for. Your credit score will often help determine the interest rates of the loans you will be taking out as well as the amount of money you may be allowed to borrow towards buying a house.

-          Calculate How Much You Can Borrow – there are sites that help you calculate and project how much you can borrow and how much you are expected to pay every month when it comes to home loans and mortgages. You will find that home affordability calculators online can help you find out if you can afford the kind of house you want on your budget and on your income. You will be able to see just how much you will need for down payments, lawyer fees and other expenses with such a calculator.

-           Get in Touch with a Real Estate Agent – if you don’t know who to trust when it comes to real estate agents, ask friends and family if they can recommend someone to you. You can also check with the BBB or Better Business Bureau for names of real estate agents that have really good reputations. Talk to a few of them first before you decide on which real estate agent to go with. If you are not comfortable with one particular real estate agent, don’t hesitate to go and find someone else.

The Three Stages of Foreclosure

Everywhere in St George Real Estate we are hearing about foreclosures. Therefore I decided to share this article about the three stages of foreclosure. When you are considering buying foreclosed property, you should know that there are actually three stages where you can purchase property that is being foreclosed. These three stages have a few pros and cons to them and you could try to determine at what stage you think you can get a house at a better deal. Here are some of the things you should ponder:

-          Preforclosure – this is the stage when you can buy a house before it is even declared as for sale but is already facing foreclosure proceedings. The way you can find homes that are in the preforeclosure stage is to ask your real estate broker or real estate agent for homes that are facing foreclosure proceedings. These people often have inside information on such things and you may find yourself getting a house at a better deal without having to compete with other bidders for it. You should be carefully do your research on such properties though since these may come with judgments that you may be required to pay once you obtain the property.

-          Foreclosure Auctions – this is said to be the stage where you can actually get the property at fair market value and when you check these properties out before you do place a bid, you will be given information on them that you can easily use to compare with your own research to ascertain if these properties are indeed worth investing in. It is best if you go to these auctions armed with the information you need on these properties to avoid overbidding or going over your budget in your zeal to obtain the property you want. Most of the time, when you are interested in foreclosed property, you won’t be able to inspect it yourself and this can present you with a number of unexpected and undesirable surprises.

-          REO ( Real Estate Owned) – when a property is in the REO stage or real estate owned stage, this means that it did not get sold at the foreclosure auction and is now being held by the bank or by the lender until it gets sold and the amount of the loan is paid off by such a sale. Usually, when a property becomes real estate owned, bidders can then make offers on the property based on the price that the bank or lender sets as fair price for the property. This fair price may however include some of the expenses the bank has incurred over such a property, like lawyer fees and such, and may be reflected on the starting price on the bid for such a property.