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3 Things To Know About Before Buying Your Next Home

Buying a home is equally stressful and exciting. But the more you’re able to take control of the situation, the more likely you’ll be able to enjoy the process.

If you are thinking of buying a home in the near future, you should make sure you understand as much as possible about the process so you can act wisely and make the process go as smoothly as possible. 

In this post, we are going to take a look at three things you need to know about before you get into buying your next home.

House Prices

To make sure you don’t over-pay for a home, you need to know what to expect from home prices in your local area. 

Keep an eye on the market and pay attention to prices per square foot, number of bedrooms, and how long houses sit on the market. You’ll quickly begin to get a feel for prices and be able to identify whether properties are priced too high, too low, or just right.

This knowledge (along with the knowledge and experience of your real estate agent will help you decide how much to offer when placing offers down on houses. 

Mortgage Rates

Because you will almost certainly need to look into getting  mortgage if you’re going to be able to buy a house, you will of course also want to know about what the current mortgage rates are.

That is something you can research fairly easily. Simply search “today’s mortgage rates” online to see the current rates. Keep in mind that the rates will be adjusted for your unique circumstances (credit score, debt to income ratio, etc.). Always compare multiple lenders to see who can give you the best interest rates on the most advantageous terms. 

Realtor Cuts

If you are going to be using a Realtor®, you need to beware of the commission they will earn from the transaction, and who will pay the fees. Standard practice in most US markets is for the seller to pay the commission. So there is no reason for buyers to forgo Realtor representation. But you should always double-check since fees are negotiable and will vary from market to market.