How to Buy Property

Buying property has many different stages. From finding the house you want to figuring out how to finance it, find tips every step of the way right here.

In the first stage of the buying process, you need to decide what you want out of your property. What will be the purpose of the property? Will it be your first home, a vacation home, an investment? Will you also be buying land or just a house? Personal or business use? Most people stay in their first home five to seven years. They keep vacation homes much longer and buy investment property to turn it over as quickly as possible.

Take a piece of paper and divide it into three columns: must-haves, would like, and do not want. If there will be a co-owner, have them do this same task, but don't share just yet. For instance, if its a house, do you want a house with a minimum of four bedrooms? Are you a handy-man that needs a garage for all your tools? If so, four bedrooms and a garage would be on your “Must Have” list.

Then make a list of things that would be nice to have, but that you could live without. Would you like a playroom for your children, but it isn’t absolutely necessary? Would you like a place to grill out on and entertain guests? Then a playroom and a deck would be on your “Would Like to Have” list.

You should also have a list of items you definitely do not want. Do you hate stairs? Do you have small children who often run out the door? If you wouldn’t consider a house with stairs, then a two-story house would be on your “Do Not Want” list. To keep those children safe, a house near a highway or main intersection would also be on that list.

Once you and your co-owner have written your lists and finalized them, you need to share them. Make one master list that incorporates all the items that are on your lists. If you don’t agree on certain items, now is the time to hash out the details and compromise. Be prepared for your lists to change and evolve over time. Most buyers, even those with unlimited budgets, find that their lists change as they start looking at property.

Home buyers in the 21st century have many different options for searching for a new piece of property. Traditional real estate agents are the most popular, but properties are also being sold for sale by owner, through newspaper listings and on multiple listing service web sites.

If you decide to work with a buyers agent, you will have an advocate on your side who is familiar with the industry. A buyer’s agent can walk you through every step of the buying process. They can give you information about pricing and negotiation tactics and even help you find a mortgage. A buyer’s agent responsibility is to work for you and you alone. Their job is to get you the best possible deal on the property you want. Best of all, most buyer’s agents are paid from the commission of the sale of the property, which means you do not have to pay them anything. Most will ask you to sign a contract. Make sure to read the contract closely for terms and agreements. The National Association of Exclusive Buyers Agents has an excellent web site at http://www.naeba.org/ detailing the rules and regulations buyers agents must follow and it provides a link to buyers agents in your area.

Many sellers nowadays are selling their property on their own in order to save money. If they sell their property on their own, they can avoid the commissions and fees that real estate agents demand. For this reason, many owners selling their properties in this way will not talk to real estate agents. So where do you find properties that are for sale by owner? You can look in your local newspaper, drive around the neighborhoods that you like to find for sale by owner signs or pick up For Sale By Owner periodicals at your local grocery store. The internet also has web sites you can search. The number one web site for buyers and sellers in this market is http://www.forsalebyowner.com/http://www.forsalebyowner.com/.

More properties are bought and sold today using the Internet than any other source. Thanks to a wonderful invention called the MLS, or multiple listing service, you, as a buyer, have access to virtually all the property for sale in the entire country. The MLS is a computerized database. When a realtor lists a property, they pay a fee to have that property posted in the MLS database. Please note: Many people selling their property for sale by owner do not have an MLS listing.

The number one web site for searching properties using the MLS database is Realtor.com, located at http://www.realtor.com/. Using this web site, you can search by city, state, zip code and neighborhood. You can input minimum and maximum price ranges. You can expand or limit your search based on a multitude of criteria including square footage, lot features and community features, just to name a few. Another popular site, http://www.ziprealty.com, combines aspects of web site and agency. They are the largest hybrid online player, where much of the transaction is on-line, but they also assign an agent.

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