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Real Estate Buyer Blog  Buyers ... Stay Informed on the Local Market
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Preparing to Buy A Home in
Buying a home is a much more complicated process than it initially looks. On purchasing a real estate, surely a major part of the process is finding a home in. offer a price on it if it meets your needs. Before you can take any of those steps, you first need to prepare for the purchase.
if you have bought a home before, you still don't know as much about buying a home as you think you do. you could still brush up on your knowledge even though you just recently purchased a home. Being prepared for buying a home is the best thing you can do to ensure a smooth real estate transaction.
It is not essential to spend a lot of time familiarizing yourself with the home purchase process. . Neither do you have to attend expensive seminars or purchase manuals or books. Much of what you need to learn about buying a home you can learn from the comfort of your own home using the Internet. The best piece of advice anyone can give you when you are buying a home is to learn about the process beforehand.
Before you even think about contacting a real estate agent, you need to first define your reason for buying a home. It's easy to come up with the cliché reasons for buying a home, but the "American Dream" simply isn't reason enough to spend the money you are about to spend on a home. You'll have much better luck finding a place that you love if you really look at why you are buying a home.
Take a hard look at your finances. You should not neglect this one part of the preparation. Because buying a home is such a large financial undertaking, it is imperative that you understand what your budget looks like. you need to make sure that you can afford your monthly payment on your mortgage. On buying a real estate, before that you need to qualify for a mortgage. It's very important to always have some extra money on hand when you have bought a new home.
Become educated on the entire mortgage process. There are a number of mortgages available to potential buyers. Find out what these are and from where you can get them. A mortgage that meets your needs is just as important as the house that you are using it for. There is a great online resource that will help people with all their home buying needs, and free advice that will answer all their questions, and then some.com is a fantastic asset.
to pay for a mortgage, you should first know how much you can afford. By looking at your monthly income and expenditures, you can use the amount left over to determine the amount you can afford to pay for a mortgage.
Develop a list of needs and wants for your home in . Before we come to a decision it is better to recognize that the two are not one and the same. A need is something that you require from a home. You cannot live without it. A thing that you desire in your home is a want. Realizing the difference is important in the eventual home you buy and the amount spent.
The preparation you put into buying a home will have a major effect on your home shopping experience. you need to take the necessary steps to make sure that I, Mike Martin, can help you discover the home you both require and desire.
There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in real estate. For information thats about the you can see the current real estate market including the current homes for sale, the property values in certain areas, and more. Please visit our website for the most complete information dedicated to everything One important thing in the real estate market, and buying a home, don't be talked into something you can not afford. So please feel free to contact me with any of your mortgage questions and I will me more than glad to answer you queries. You can call my cell phone at 412-215-5814 or email me at mmartin@northwood.com. |
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Expert Mike Martin's Guide to Buying a Home in for the First Time Buyer |
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Buying a home for the first time can seem like an overwhelming task. You're making the biggest financial decision of your life, and there is so much to consider. It helps a lot to understand the process from beginning to end. In this article, I'll walk you through the entire process of buying a house in Pittsburgh so that your entire home buying experience will go more smoothly.
Step #1 - Getting Your Mortgage Pre-Approved
As we both know, lenders aren't nearly as lenient as they used to be. It's important to find both a good lender and a good loan officer to handle your loan, preferably before you even go out to see properties.
The loan officer will usually want to know what your assets are, what your credit score is and your debt to income ratio.
Step #2 - Finding a Home You Like
The next step in the process is to find a home in Pittsburgh that appeals to you. Make sure you see a good number of houses before you make your decision, so that you know what the options are.
Step #3 - The Offer and Negotiation Process
Crafting a good offer is vitally important. It's important to work with a real estate agent who understands how to choose contingencies, clauses, the right amount to offer and good negotiation strategies.
Once you've made your offer, the seller will usually make a counter offer. It's rare that the seller will accept your offer up front. Once you both come to an agreement on the price and terms, the contract becomes binding.
Step #4 - Completing the Home Purchase
Once the contract has been agreed on, then you must complete the home inspection and the seller will make any necessary repairs.
Then your loan will be finalized with your loan officer. Finally, closing or escrow is where all the documents are signed, the deed and title are signed over, the seller is paid and the keys are handed over.
In brief, that is what the home buying process looks like in Pittsburgh. There is a lot of free information available to you about buying real estate in Pittsburgh. For complete information about the Pittsburgh real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything Pittsburgh real estate, at www.NewlywedHomeBuyer.com. Please feel free to contact me with any of your real estate or mortgage related questions and I will be more than glad to answer your questions. Call me on my cell at 412-215-5814 or email me at mmartin@northwood.com.
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Newlywed Home Buyer Guide |
 You have made a very important decision in your life. You've chosen the single person you'll be living with for the rest of your life. And now it's time to buy your first home together.
You owe it to yourself and your spouse to make sure you understand ALL the aspects of buying a home in the Pittsburgh marketplace. After all, the purchase of a home is one of the largest investments you will ever make.
It's even more important to understand how the real estate industry in Pittsburgh and surounding areas work and how you can use it to your advantage to save Your Hard Earned Money.
To help you with this, I have prepared a 36 page Newylwed Home Buyer Suvival Guide that will educate you on just about every aspect of buying your first home. This guide cuts through all of the hype and misconceptions and gives you practicle survival tips concerning the home buying process.
I will send you the Newlywed Home Buyer Survival Guide absolutely FREE with no cost or obligation whatsoever.
Here's a few things that are included in the guide.
8 Steps to Getting Your Finances in Order
Budget Basics Work Sheet
8 Ways to Improve Your Credit
10 Steps to Prepare for Homeownership
How Big a Mortgage Can I Afford?
7 Reasons to Own Your Own Home
5 Common First-Time Homebuyer Mistakes
10 Ways to Take the Trauma Out of Homebuying
Hidden Home Defects to Watch For
10 Questions to Ask a Home Inspector
Choices That Will Affect Your Loan
5 Things to Understand About Homeowners Insurance
10 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs
And More!!!
So why am I willing to send you this Home Buyer Guide for free?
Well, there are several reasons:
1. I have a sincere interest in teaching Pittsburgh home buyers the entire home buying process from start to finish.
2. If you do decide to use the services of a professional real estate agent, I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about your home purchase. My office strongly believes in the philosophy "What You Give, You Get Get Back". In other words, if I freely share what I know with others who need it, then eventually it will be returned ten times!! But remember, this isn't a requirement for getting my free Survial Guide but I always appreciate the courtesy.
3. In these tough econonmic times it is more important than ever to make the right decisions when purchasing a home. My professional real estate service for buyers are the most complete, innovative and frankly, far better when compared seriously to ANY other real estate company in or around Pittsburgh.
To receive the Newlywed Home Buyer Survival Guide, simply fill out the form below and I'll email it to you immediately.
I hope to be able to help you find the new home that will start your lives together. If you would like to speak with me directly, you may give me a call at 412-367-3200 Ext. 315 or email me at mmartin@northwood.com
To Your Home Buying Success,
Mike Martin
Northwood Realty Services
9840 Old Perry Highway
Wexford, PA 15090
412-367-3200 Ext. 315.
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So we've been searching for houses for a little while and you just found one that's perfect for you.
Now what?
Well, the first thing you want to do is get a pre-approval letter. I can recommend a mortgage company or you can use one of your own. The pre-approval letter is necessary with all submitted offers because it tells the seller that you've talked to a bank and are able to finance the home.
Once we have the pre-approval letter, then we can determine how much to offer for the property. As your agent, I will look at comparables to the home to see if it has been priced for the market, over priced for the market, or even underpriced for the market. Once we know what it should be priced at, we can determine what to offer. If we discover that we will be competing with another buyer for the same property, then we'll have to have a different strategy with your offer.
We're now sitting at the table ready to write up the sales agreement (offer). The sales agreement allows protection for both the buyer and seller of a home. It contains all of the contigencies such as home inspections, financing, pest inspections, etc. as well as ending dates for each contingency. As your agent, I will walk you through the entire agreement and explain all of the sections as we go.
Once the agreement is finished, you will then need to put down "Good Faith" or hand money. This is a small amount of money that is deposited into an escrow account when the offer is accepted. This hand money will be applied to your closing costs at closing. The reason for the hand money is to give the seller some protection for taking their home off the market while you're doing your inspections and waiting for closing. If for some reason you decide that you simply don't want to purchase the home, and none of the reasons have to do with any of the contigencies, then the hand money is given to the seller. However, if you decide that you don't want to purchase the house because of one of the contingencies (such as defects during the home inspections, you cannot get financed, or you cannot get homeowner's insurance), then the hand money will go back to you. If everything goes well, then the money is applied to your closing costs at closing.
Let's say that both you and the seller reach an agreement with the offer, it's now time to schedule the home inspections, apply for your mortgage, and talk to your insurance agent for homeowner's insurance. As your agent, I'll be keeping tabs of everything that needs to get done and making sure it's all completed in a timely manner. I'll also be answering any questions that you may have during the process.
Everything went well and we're now at the closing table. As a buyer, you'll have most of the papers to sign and most closings usually take between 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once the closing is finished, you'll be handed the keys and you can now head over to your new home and begin your lives together.
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What is an impound account? |
What is an impound account?
An impound account is a trust account established by the lender to hold money to pay for real estate taxes, and mortgage and homeowners insurance premiums as they are received each month.
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appealing your property taxes |
Where can I learn more about appealing my Pittsburgh property taxes?
Contact your local Pittsburgh tax assessor's office to see what procedures to follow to appeal your property tax assessment. You may be able to appeal your assessment informally. Mostly likely, however, you will have to go through a formal tax-appeal processes, which begin with an appeal filed with the appropriate assessment appeals board.
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Are property taxes deductible? |
Are Pittsburgh property taxes deductible?
Property taxes on all Pittsburgh real estate, including those levied by state and local governments and school districts, are fully deductible against current income taxes.
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Tax benefits to homeowners |
What tax benefits are there toPittsburgh area homeowners?
Homeowners benefit from several generous tax advantages. The most important benefit is the mortgage interest deduction. People may deduct interest paid on mortgage loans totaling up to $1 million used to buy, build or improve a principal residence plus a second home. The IRS calls such loans acquisition debt.
Points paid by the buyer or seller on a new mortgage loan for the purchase or improvement of a principal residence are deductible for the year in which the home was purchased.
Any points paid on a refinance mortgage, a loan to purchase a second home or a mortgage on income property must be spread over the life of the loan, according to Edith Lank and Miriam S. Geisman, authors of "Your Home as a Tax Shelter," Dearborn Financial Publishing, Chicago; 1993.
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Are points deductible?
If you are a Pittsburgh buyer, and you or the seller pays points, they are deductible for the year in which they are paid only. You also can deduct any points you pay when you refinance your Pittsburgh area home, but you must do so ratably over the life of the loan. Consult your tax or financial advisor.
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loss from selling your home |
Can I deduct the loss I suffered when I sold my Pittsburgh area home?
The Internal Revenue Service currently does not allow deductions for losses on the sale of your own home. In fact there's no way to use a loss on the sale of your principal residence to your advantage on your income tax return.
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What are the rules on capital gains when inheriting a house?
When children inherit a home, the Internal Revenue Service determines their basis in the property on the date of the owner's death. The cost basis is not the amount the owner originally paid for the house, but the property's fair-market value on the date of the parent's death.
Cost basis is a tax term for the dollar amount assigned to a property at the time it is acquired, for the purpose of determining gain or loss when it is sold.
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How do I save on taxes?
Here are some ways to save money on taxes:
* Mortgage interest on loans up to $1 million is completely deductible for the year in which you pay it to buy, build or improve your principal residence plus a second home.
* Points, or loan origination fees, also are deductible no matter who pays them, the buyer or the seller.
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Are taxes on second Wexford homes deductible?
Mortgage interest and property taxes are deductible on a second home if you itemize. Check with your accountant or tax advisor for specifics.
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who gets a sold homes furnishings? |
Who gets the furnishings when a home is sold?
It depends. Fixtures, any kind of personal property that is permanently attached to a house (such as drapery rods, built-in bookcases, tacked-down carpeting or a furnace) automatically stay with the house unless specified otherwise in the sales contract. But anything that is not nailed down is negotiable. This most often involves appliances that are not built in (washer, dryer, refrigerator, for example), although some sellers will be interested in negotiating for other items, such as a piano.
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sellers disclosing other offers |
Do sellers have to disclose the terms of other offers?
Sellers are not legally obligated to disclose the terms of other offers to prospective buyers.
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considerations before buying |
What are some pre purchase considerations to think about?
When you buy a resale home, you can find out a lot more about the Pittsburgh area property and the neighborhood before you buy than when you buy a new home.
Land to support new-home developments usually is located on the outskirts of town. Potential buyers should ask the developer about future access to public transit, entertainment activities, shopping centers, churches and schools. Find out how far it is to the nearest library, for example.
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Do Pittsburgh area builders offer financing?
Builders often include financing programs to help move more buyers into a project early on. If it's a buyer's market in the Pittsburgh area, you can be sure that developers will offer incentives such as low-down-payment financing.
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