So you\u2019ve made the decision to stop renting and buy a home.\u00a0 Buying a home is very emotional, incredibly stressful, and requires diligence and strategy.\u00a0 To make sure your pursuit is not fraught with pitfalls you should consider the following ideas:
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\n1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Location is paramount to your decision.\u00a0 Where you purchase your home is critical.\u00a0 If you want a certain neighborhood, a certain school district, a certain proximity to a certain shopping center these criteria should all take precedence over anything else.\u00a0 Using these parameters will often limit your market area where you are looking.\u00a0 If these criteria are not that important your scope of search could be a lot broader.\u00a0 However, the most important decision is that the location you desire to search should not be compromised.<\/p>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Make many visits to your search area.\u00a0 It is important to visit the areas you are looking during all different times of the day to see the broad activity that occurs over the period of time from morning, noon and night.\u00a0 A home or neighborhood may seem quiet and peaceful at 10A, but during the afternoon commute it might be busy and bothersome.\u00a0 The neighborhood school during the summer may look cute, but in the school year will be buzzing with activity and traffic.\u00a0 The little league park or the soccer fields look like great places for kids to play in the off-seasons, but when the leagues are in session the traffic, noise, and activity may be overwhelming for you.<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neighbors talk.\u00a0 All neighbors have information that is not 100% public knowledge.\u00a0 Walk around the neighborhood and talk to as many neighbors as possible.\u00a0 They will all have different stories to tell and information to gossip.\u00a0 The neighbors know where all the \u201cbodies are buried\u201d so to speak.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Get the neighborhood association documents.\u00a0 If the neighborhood you are considering has an HOA, get the documents and read them all.\u00a0 There are records, minutes, and notes about all of the dirty details that have occurred during the history of the property.\u00a0 There will be any records of litigation or disputes as well which would be important to know.<\/p>\n
5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Local news might have information.\u00a0 Contact the local news agency to see if there is any information about the community or neighborhood.\u00a0 Are there any long-term problems or issues about the neighborhood that is common knowledge but no one talks about?\u00a0 Have there been any notorious events in the neighborhood?<\/p>\n
6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Coming developments, construction, freeways.\u00a0 Are there any major construction projects or large developments coming that can change the texture of the neighborhood?\u00a0 City hall will be the proper location to check on any major projects in the pipeline.<\/p>\n
7)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Explore the surrounding area.\u00a0 A neighborhood might seem great, but the peripheral surrounding areas will also have an impact and affect your neighborhood.\u00a0\u00a0 Make sure to check out all of the surrounding areas such that you are comfortable with the idea of those adjoining neighborhoods being close to yours.<\/p>\n
The decision to buy a home is a process which has many moving parts.\u00a0 When buying a home research, diligence and a comprehensive strategy should begin with hiring a competent and experienced real estate agent.\u00a0 To make your home search fruitful and enjoyable learn everything about your potential neighborhood such that you are almost a neighborhood expert before you decide to make an offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seven (7) Things to Consider and Research before Buying a Home So you\u2019ve made the decision to stop renting and buy a home.\u00a0 Buying a home is very emotional, incredibly stressful, and requires diligence and strategy.\u00a0 To make sure your pursuit is not fraught with pitfalls you should consider the following ideas:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n