Five Tips for the Texas Home Buyer

With a little planning, you can avoid a lot of home-buying traps! Let us explore five tips for the home buyer.

Tip 1. Do your homework. Really look at the available neighborhoods, the commute, the school district, shopping and your budget.

Tip 2. Talk to a lender before you look at a home. Get your finances in order, get your best deal on a loan package and know in your mind that you are ready to look at houses that you really can afford to live in.

Tip 3. Consider using a Buyer’s Agent. A buyer’s agent is a general real estate agent or the listing agent that is working for the seller. It’s part of the law of agency. Unless you have an agent specifically contracted to you as your buying agent you don’t have the most complete coverage for your interest that is available to you. Think about it.

Tip 4. Investigate areas you are interested in. Check out the general area before you decide you want to live there and before you ask to see homes. Go see the area during rush hour, and late on Friday or Saturday evening. You want to be close to shopping, but sometimes you’re not interested in buying what a neighbor sells in the wee hours. Check it out first!

Tip 5. Decide before you go shopping for a house what it must have and what you can manage to deal without until you can add it yourself. You will save yourself a lot of time and very likely some money by looking at a home with an older, but serviceable kitchen until you can get the kitchen you want. ‘All new’ is nice, but it comes at a premium price tag.