Tips for Buying a Home in 2015
2026
Buying a home in 2015? Many people start thinking about getting into the real estate market after the New Year’s celebrations are over. Here are tips to help you make your home-buying resolutions happen this year.
Start Dreaming
Your home search should start with the ‘dreaming phase.’ This phase means you’re thinking about what you want in a home, exploring neighborhoods, and casting the widest possible net. During this phase, you’re checking out online photos of properties, comparing and contrasting listings and prices per square foot, and understanding the price differential between school districts. The dreaming phase is a good time to play around with the market, begin to get the real estate ‘bug,’ and develop a feel for your future home. Don’t rush. And don’t feel pressured.
Search and Discover
When you’re ready to move beyond the dreaming phase, it’s time for the search and discovery phase. This is when you start gathering data, building your team (real estate agent, mortgage professional, and so on), and developing a strategy for moving forward.
During the search and discover phase, ask your agent lots of questions about how the market works, school districts and the home buying process in general. Ask your mortgage professional to run some numbers and do a full review of your finances, including checking your credit score. The mortgage professional will use that data to check available loans in your market and help you understand your various loan options.
Push Full Steam Ahead
After weeks or months (sometimes even years) of dreaming, searching and discovering, you’ll know the market inside and out. You’ll have seen enough homes to know what you like and don’t like, and you’ll have prioritized your criteria based on what you’ve learned.
Now, it’s full steam ahead. Being a buyer becomes your part-time job. You’re online constantly, checking properties. You’re always in touch with your agent.
When a home matching your criteria comes on the market, go see it as soon as possible with your agent. If possible, don’t wait for the open house, especially in competitive markets. Be prepared to make offers, or you’ll likely miss out. Or, you may move forward on a home, only to discover it has inspection issues. You might even experience a little buyer’s remorse.
Ultimately, in 2015 or whenever you jump into the market, the right home will come along. And it will work out to your advantage because you’ll have done all the prep work and will have your team in place.
