CTC Land and Home Real Estate
2444 State Route 38A
Moravia, NY 13118
Taken from In Pert Property This Week by Peter Fletcher:
4 Reasons Every Buyer Needs a Pre-Approved Home Loan
A preapproval is one of the greatest assets a home buyer can get.
Pre-approval is a written assessment of your worthiness to a loan. When you seek pre-approval for a home loan, your lender will assess your ability to pay, as well as your credit history, to decide how much they are willing to lend you.
Although you can make an offer and do through to the start of property settlement without having a pre-approval, smart home buyers get a pre-approval before they make an offer.
Really smart home buyers get pre-approval before they even start going to home opens.
Here's why you should too:
1. You get a better choice of properties. When you visit a home open and talk to a real estate agent, letting them know that you have pre-approval is a sure-fire way to get them to take you seriously as a buyer. Once a real estate agent knows you're serious about buying, they're likely to call you about potential properties before they've even hit the market ,giving you a better choice of properties, and potentially cheaper deals.
2. You get a better deal. To sellers, preapproval is almost like a guarantee that the deal they strike with you won't fall over. Sellers want certainty, because if the buyer they choose can't get finance, the seller will have to start marketing their property all over again. To them, this certainty is worth money - I've seen plenty of deals where the seller has accepted a lower offer because that buyer had a pre-approval and the higher offers don't.
3. You won't waste time looking at homes you can't afford. Getting pre-approval will give you a much better idea of what homes are within your price range, so you'll know in advance which properties are too pricey to waste your time on.
4. You won't have your heart broken. Imagine falling in love with a property and even going so far as to make an offer on it - only to find out at that it's out of your price range! Save yourself the disappointment of having a deal fall through by knowing in advance what you can (and can't) afford.
If you're planning to buy a home, get a pre-approved home loan from your chosen lender. Your seller, real estate agent, and settlement agent will thank you for it - and you'll be glad you did."
Taken from RIS Media-The Leader in Real Estate Information System - May 25,2010
by Dan Steward
Tips for Buyers:
"1. Don't buy if you don't plan to stay
If you can't commit to remaining in one place for at least a few years, then owning is probably not for you, at least not yet. With the transaction costs of buying and selling a home, you may end up losing money...
2. Start by shoring up your credit
Since you probably will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.
3. Choose carefully between points and rate
When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points-a portion of the interest that you pay at closing-in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time-say three to five years or more-it's usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.
4. Hire a home inspector
A home inspector can let you know if you're about to buy a lemon or warn you about potential problems. At least, you can move into the house confident that it's in good shape; at worst, the inspector's report can let you negotiate the home price to account for necessary repairs.
5. Get professional help
Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an exclusive buyer agent, if possible, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.
6. Bonus Tip: Be patient
Buying a home is one of the largest purchases most people will make in their lifetime. The key to avoiding buyer's remorse is to be completely comfortable before signing on the dotted line."
Did you know that sellers who choose to use a real estate professional will make on the average 16 percent more on the sale of their home?
It is possible to do a Property Search within this site. Our office belongs to two MLS Systems, Ithaca/Tompkins County and Cayuga/Greater Syracuse area, which now includes the Cortland area.