Are You Ready To Make An Offer To Buy A Home?
October 29, 2024
How to get started? In the early stages, establishing your budget and how much work you need to do on your credit is key. But once you have gotten past the initial phase of that planning you’ll want to consider the house itself and what you want from it.
You can get started by writing down your dream home’s must-have features. What size house do you want? How many bedrooms?
Do you need to be near schools, childcare, or major interstates? Separate your non-negotiables from what you feel more comfortable negotiating or haggling over.
Research the market you want to buy in. Consider analyzing recent residential real estate sales of similar properties in the area to determine a reasonable value for the home you're interested in. Online resources like Zillow and Realtor.com can be helpful.
Key Factors Before You Make An Offer To Buy With An FHA Mortgage
Ask yourself the following questions before you approach a home seller.
Is the home I want within my price range, and how much more or less is the sale price than the pre-approval amount?
What’s the first impression of the condition of the property? Does it look like it needs work, or is it pristine and in excellent condition?
If you haven’t decided on a specific property type, do the homes you have seen to date lack something important? For many borrowers, issues that seem minor early on become major headaches later, depending on the problems.
Your First Offer
It’s easy at first to consider your offer to the seller as your “best offer,” but real estate negotiations aren’t always that simple. Consider your initial offer as an opening statement.
That may lead to negotiation with the seller, but doing so is worth the hassle. According to many sources, “Flexibility is key.” Buyers go into the process willing to compromise on some parts of the home-buying process to make the sale more attractive to the seller.
Know your limits and be prepared to walk away if the deal starts to become unreasonable. That said, know WHEN and HOW you are legally permitted to walk away before you make any offer.
FHA Loan Articles
April 30, 2025 In a previous post, we discussed why FHA borrowers should carefully consider whether paying for discount points truly serves their best interests, focusing on factors like short-term homeownership, opportunity cost, FHA mortgage insurance, and the prevailing interest rate environment. Discount points are an option for borrowers willing to pay a fee to lower the interest rate by a set amount. This is not right for all borrowers, and you don't want to pay for points you won't benefit from during the loan term.
April 29, 2025Are you considering buying a home with an FHA loan? You'll likely talk to your participating lender about FHA loan "discount points" – fees you pay upfront for a lower interest rate on your mortgage. The idea behind discount points is a straightforward exchange: you spend money today to reduce your interest rate. Typically, one point equals one percent of your total FHA loan. In return, your interest rate might decrease by an amount you and the lender agree upon.
April 28, 2025Home loans have various expenses that aren't apparent to a new borrower until much later in the process. What do you need to consider when making your home loan budget? It might not be complete without addressing some of the issues we cover here.
April 23, 2025 While the prospect of lower interest rates or more favorable loan terms can be enticing, there are situations where waiting is the better option. Refinancing without carefully considering your current financial circumstances is never a good idea, but careful planning in the current financial environment is even more important.
April 22, 2025First-time home buyers worry about loan approval, but there are important steps to take to increase the likelihood that the lender will approve their application for the loan or pre-approval. What do you need to know before you choose a lender?
