Buyer Tips

The best way to make sure you choose the right home is to properly prepare yourself. The purchase of a home is a tremendous investment, both monetarily and emotionally. The purpose of this page is to provide you with some tips to help your transaction progress smoothly, and result in you being a happy homeowner.

Don’t do it alone.

Your home is likely to represent one of the largest investments in your life. In order to make sure the transaction goes smoothly it is important that you choose the right agent to represent your interests. The right agent will be someone whose experience and personality makes you comfortable.

Get pre-approved.

Do you already know how much home you can afford?  Speak with a lender to learn about the different financing options available to you. When you find the right lender, get the paperwork processed before you start looking at homes, so you will be ready to buy once you do find your perfect home.  I have trusted lenders that can help you, or you can find one, but check with me because some companies are less able to get the job done than others.

Avoid major purchases.

When determining the amount of home you can afford, a lender will use your debt-to-income ratio to determine the percentage of your pre-tax income you spend on debt. Your debt ratio will include: monthly housing costs, car payments, credit cards, student loans, and any other installment debt. If you take on more debt before buying a home it will have an impact on the amount of the loan that the lender will finance, which could impact your ability to buy the home you’ve chosen.

Have a Home Search Set UP.

In order to make an educated decision you need to know what type of homes are available, and how much they are going for I can set up a home search from the MLS for you.  This search will be highly more accurate than some of the search sites people refer to, though those can be a good place to start.  Just email me (Linn@LocateWithLinn.com) or text/call me at 763-221-1809 and this can be done within minutes.  Or you can set up a property watch on this web site.

Ask Questions.

For most properties on the  market, the sellers have filled out a disclosure statement, but we should ask all of the questions we want about the property.  In a fast paced seller’s market we might have to get some of those answers during the inspection period, and if you don’t like the answers, we can back out and get your earnest money back.

Get the home professionally inspected.

The last thing you want to discover after you have bought a home is that you have purchased a “money pit.”  By “money pit” I am referring to a home full of defects which will end up costing you a lot of money.   A qualified home inspector will be able to identify many issues in a home, though some are latent.  One of the home inspectors on my list is also a structural engineer, so if we think there could be a structural problem he is a good resource.

Remember, if you have any questions I am always just a phone call or email away.