The Long Drawn Out Process Of House Buying

The Long-drawn House-buying Process

Author: Ajeet Khurana

Nobody ever buys a house in a single day. It could take anywhere from two months to longer. Shopping around for an affordable house is only among the last steps that take place in the process of house buying. A good deal of preparatory work has to precede most of these final steps. A potential house buyer has to meet with the real estate agents and the loan providers. The house buyer will have to see to it that he possesses sufficient money to pay for a portion of the house's value. He also has to see to it that the price that he is being quoted for the house is an accurate one.





Thus, the process of buying property is fairly difficult. There are many issues that will demand one's attention both before and after the house-shopping process. In fact, even before one starts looking for a home, one must make sure that one's credit is in order, that there are sufficient savings to pay for the down payment, and that the amount of money coming in is adequate to pay off the monthly loan installments. Most of us cannot afford to purchase a house by only making use of our savings. Thus, mortgages are now essential to the house buying process.





However, mortgage lenders generally require every house buyer to see to all kinds of formalities. For one, the credit score of the person seeking to buy a house should be good. A bad credit score would mean that you would have no access to the best offers and discounts in the loan markets. Lower rates of interest and flexible terms of repayment are benefits that are the privilege who have a good credit score. Those with bad scores have to make do with deals that might end up hurting one's standard of living.





Putting all your documents in order cannot be avoided. Make sure that you have all your documents ready before you submit that loan application. A house mortgage requires one to furnish far more papers than do other kinds of loans both secured and unsecured. The mortgage being a long term involvement between the lender and the borrower, the former needs to collect information about the latter to ascertain the creditworthiness of the latter. Thus, make sure you maintain good credit. This would make life even more easy for you to secure great housing loans.





At the same time, make sure that you do not forget about how much you can afford to pay. I'm sure you do not want to become flat broke immediately after buying the house.

About the Author:

http://www.nationsfinance.co.uk/ will get you fixed rate mortgages and other mortgages.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Long-drawn House-buying Process

Buying A Home: The Mistakes To Avoid!

Buying a Home - Three Mistakes to Avoid

Author: Steve Gillman

Buying a home is often a stressful process, because it is usually the single largest purchase of your life. Even if it isn't your first house, it's easy to make a mistake that costs you hundreds or thousands of dollars. Here are three common mistakes to avoid.




1. Paying Too Much



This isn't about over-paying for a particular home. That mistake is tough to make if you will be borrowing to buy. An appraisal will be done, and the lender will probably refuse to lend enough for you to buy an over-priced house.



The common mistake here is following the advice of real estate agents, lenders and even your friends and family, who will often encourage you to buy a more expensive home than you can afford. They may call it an "investment" and claim that real estate always goes up in value, so you should get as much as you can. Of course, recent history shows that home values don't always go up, and this kind of thinking has a lot of families facing foreclosure now.



Buy what you feel comfortable with. If you can't easily make the payments, even after a short layoff from work, you may be overextending yourself. And watch out for lenders "solutions" to this problem (see number 2).



2. Trusting Lenders



I am not suggesting that lenders are all out to get you, or that you should look at them suspiciously, but they are not necessarily looking out for your best interest. That's your job. Their's is to sell loans. Buying a home normally requires buying a loan too, and as we can see now (2008), many loans are not suitable if you want a secure future. While there are sometimes good reasons for interest-only, adjustable-rate, and zero-down loans, most of the time these should be avoided.





Never mind what a lender recommends or suggests. Ask him only for facts, and do your own math. If the rate on your loan goes from 5% to 10%, what will the payments be? Can you easily afford that? If not, you are taking a risk that may not be justified.



3. Trusting Real Estate Agents



When you are buying a home, the real estate agent who helps you, like the lender, has his own agenda. It isn't that he or she doesn't wish you the best, but they wish even more for their own families, so the primary goals is to sell something. Also, unless the agent is explicitly working for you, she has a fiduciary responsibility to work against you if that is what is best for the seller. In other words, if she thinks you will pay more because of a comment you make, she must pass that information on to the home owner.





Even a buyer's agent can be biased. It is nice to think that they are working for you, but they still only get paid (typically) when a sale is made. That's a pretty motivation to push you into a home fast, whether or not it's the best one for you.



Pay attention to whether an agent is really showing you the houses that suit your needs, rather than the ones that he or she would buy. Many real estate agents don't listen very well, and will show you what they think you want, rather than asking you more questions. They can lead you to buy a house that doesn't suit your needs or costs more than you want.



One final note about real estate agents: They are not experts on all things. In fact, some are barely an expert on anything. I have met agents who didn't understand a simple seller-financing offer, and others who suggested that cracks in foundations were "no big deal," though they knew nothing about construction. Unless an agent has specific experience in an area, take what they say with a grain of salt, and seek out other counsel.



Buying a home that actually is right for you starts with avoiding the three mistakes above.

About the Author:

Copyright Steve Gillman. To see a photo of the house we bought for $17,500, get a free ebook on Buying A Home For Less, and a free real estate investing course, visit: http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Buying a Home - Three Mistakes to Avoid

I Want To Buy A New House How Much Can I Afford

Hi,

It comes as no surprise that buying a new house or real estate has changed dramatically over the last few months. The question “I want to buy a new house how much can I afford” varies from lender to lender and also down to your own personal circumstances.

If you want to buy a new house then a lot of new build companies offer great incentives to help you on your way and you could well find that buying a new house is easier than you first thought.

As with anything, and especially in these times make sure you can comfortably afford buying a new house or you will end up being very stressed out.