How to buy a Home
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Laying the Right Foundation when Buying a Home
This is why I am creating this lens. To keep track of everything I have learned in the process so that when I get to the point of finding a real estate agent, I know who and what I am looking for. It is my hope to share my findings with you so that you can comment, ask questions and give tips according to your own experience: sharing the knowledge so that we can all step out with confidence when taking care of home matters.
My name is Andrea Schmitz. I am 40 years old, married and have five children under the age of 13. (That is a picture of my family, the youngest one was wandering about the house when a friend of the family caught the rest of us in front of the tree.) My *scary* journey will begin in a year's time when we plan to move to North America from Germany, leaving everything behind, our employment, our current home, our friends. Once we cross the Atlantic we will be looking to jump right into home ownership as with our sized family, hanging out in hotels or bunking up with friends can get very old, very quickly.
Your situation naturally will not be the same as mine: But if you are here, then chances are you are looking to buy a home. Regardless of where you come from this lens aims to offer you tips and resources to make sound financial decisions while you enter into the home buying and home owning phase of your life.
Do You Feel Your Real Estate Agent Always Worked in Your Best Interests?
Real Estate Agents Are Not Your Enemy, You Just Need To Understand...
As I stated in the videos above, your real estate agent is going to be your fountain of knowledge and should be your partner in the process of buying a home. However as I also discussed, there are some typical "key phrases" which can indicate that your real estate agent is no longer acting in your best interests.
Here is your chance to let us know how good you think your real estate agent is/was:
This is what you are gonna find:
- Do You Feel Your Real Estate Agent Always Worked in Your Best Interests?
- Saving Money Before You Buy Your Home
- Share your Experiences and Ask your Questions
- How to Make an Offer on a Home
- Making an Offer: How did you Save Money at this Phase? Or do you have a question?
- Save Money when You are Ready to Close the Sale
- Save Money when Closing the Sale
- This little gem has given me oodles of information on buying farms...
Saving Money Before You Buy Your Home
Can you trust your real estate agent? (Part 1)
Share your Experiences and Ask your Questions
Were you happy with your agent? Are you worried about something specific?
Like I state in the video, I do not know stitch about real estate in North America, but I think that just puts us here in a great position to help each other out. By sharing your experiences or asking your questions you will expand our knowledge and help us all to make better informed decisions when it comes to buying a home and saving money while we are at it.
Who knows? Perhaps *your* questions lead me to make more videos to share here with you!
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Pamela Belding
Jun 11, 2010 @ 7:47 am | delete
- My husband and I bought our house in November of 2004, at the top of the real estate bubble. We are now completely upside down, but fortunately, we love our house and our neighborhood and don't plan on leaving anytime soon. (we couldn't sell if we tried)
Instead of freaking out and getting angry (we tried that, but of course, it didn't do any good) I've decided to start volunteering with my local Downtown Development Authority (DDA) in order to help build our community from the inside out. The biggest challenge is the fact that our community does not have sewers (I know, hard to believe in this day and age). Honestly, I don't think my real estate agent shared this with us when we moved in. And we didn't think to ask. If we had known then, what we know now, I'm not really sure we would have moved here, but what's done is done. The best we can do is handle it and make the best of it.
My best advice would be to check out the infrastructure of the town you're moving to, as well as the community events. Events add value and a sense of pride, giving the residents something to look forward to and be a part of.
Best of luck to you and yours during this exciting time!
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MortgageOwner
Jun 11, 2010 @ 8:38 am | delete
- Thanks, Pamela! What a wonderful idea: turning to support and build up the community you are in... that will over time increase the value of everything in your area as well as replace frustrations and anger with a sense of peace and accomplishment.
I suspect that having trust with your agent is going to be only *one* of the keys, the other simply being informed and knowing what to look for.
Take home lesson from your experience for me: check out the infrastructure. Thanks for sharing!
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How to Make an Offer on a Home
Key tips to understanding your real estate agent.
Making an Offer: How did you Save Money at this Phase? Or do you have a question?
Please share your Money Saving tips for Making the Offer on a Home.
What kind of bells and whistles went off when you were at the offer making stage? Please share your story with us so that we know what else to look out for!
And if you have a question, don't be shy. Even if you wish you could have asked for that offer you made yesterday, your question will help those of us who come behind you...
Save Money when You are Ready to Close the Sale
How to be sure your real estate agent is looking out for your best interests.
Share your experience, your questions and tips here with me so that not only I can profit from you, but others can as well.
Save Money when Closing the Sale
You are almost a home owner! Pay attention to the points others leave for you!
Look, your head might be spinning at the prospect of buying a home by now. Keep cool and keep informed: be prepared to "walk away from the deal" and negotiate hard.
What kind of negotiation experience do you have? Or what are your questions? We all appreciate good advice and questions will help anyone looking to buy a home think about all kinds of aspects which otherwise could have been overlooked...
This little gem has given me oodles of information on buying farms...
As I mentioned in the videos, it is our dream to move not only to North America, but actually to move out to our own farm. The Encyclopedia has been a bedside reader for me, a daily resource for our garden and often an inspiration for the kitchen. Simply put, if you are interested in doing your family living mostly self-sustained, then this is for you.
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by MortgageOwner
No hype, no fluff. I am not selling you anything. I need to understand the North American home-buying scene because I plan to move there myself and ju... more »
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