The best way to make sure that you choose the right home is to properly prepare yourself. The purchase of a home is a tremendous investment, both monetarily and emotionally. The purpose of this page is to provide you with some tips that will help your transaction progress smoothly and result in you being a happy homeowner.

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• Get professional help. Your home is likely to represent one of the largest investments in your life. In order to make sure that the transaction goes smoothly it is of vital importance that you choose the right agent to represent your interests. The right agent will be someone whose experience and personality makes you feel comfortable.  You should try to find an agent who is familiar and knowledgeable about the area you plan to move into.

• Get pre-approved. Do you already know how much home you can afford?  There is nothing more frustrating than looking for a home, finding the perfect home, and then discovering that it is out of your price range. Speak with a lender to learn about the different financing options available to you. When you find the right lender get the paperwork processed so that you will be ready to buy when you find the right home.  Avoid disappointment by getting your ducks in a row first.

• Avoid any other major purchases.  In order to determine the amount of home you can afford a lender uses your debt-to-income ratio. This ratio is the percentage of your pre-tax income that you spend on debt. Your debt ratio will include: monthly housing costs, car payments, credit cards, student loans, and any other installment debt.  If you take on more debt right before buying a home it is going to have an impact on the amount of the loan that the lender will finance.

• Sign up for Property Watch. In order to make an educated decision you need to know what is available and how much it is going for. You can browse all the active listings from our website. Once you have found some homes you like, save those searches and sign up for property watch so that new listings will be emailed to you. The best homes move fast so you need to make sure that you are on top of the available inventory at all times so you do not miss out.

• Ask Questions. No one knows the home better than the seller of the property; however it is not always in the seller's best interest to disclose all the information. If you find out the seller's motivation for selling you might be able to negotiate a better deal on the home. Try to find out the last time service was performed on the roof, furnace, and water heater.   Asking the right questions now can end up saving you a lot of money in the long run.

• Get a home inspection. The last thing you want to discover after you have bought a home is that you have purchased a "money pit".   By "money pit" we ar referring to a home that is full of defects that are going to end up costing you a lot of money. Save yourself a lot of time in future litigation and renovation by bringing in a licensed home inspector before you buy.  If any problems are found it will steer you away from a bad decision or help you negotiate a better price.