The specific way you progress through a real estate transaction varies depending on the real estate laws and customs where you live. For an example, in Sydney's Eastern suburbs its not uncommon for the real estate agent to ask you to wave the cooling off period via the 66W form where as in the Sydney's greater west and southern suburbs this is almost unheard of. Similarly the deposit on the property may not be required in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where the 'first to sign' the contract rule often prevails. But there are many home buying steps that are standard, even though they might not be accomplished in the same order in every location. Tip 1- Get Your Finances in Order Your credit reports are an ongoing look at how you manage your finances. You must know exactly what your credit reports say about your financial history before you apply for a mortgage. Why? Because the reports can play an important role in the mortgage approval process and in determining the interest rate and other loan terms that a lender offers you. Tip 2- Get Familiar with the Mortgage Industry Finding the right loan and lender is crucial to your home buying success. It's up to you to determine which lender is best for your needs, and it's always a good idea to have at least a bit of background about the loan process before you talk to a lender. Tip 3- Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Do you know how much house you can afford? Probably not, unless you've talked with a lender. And pre-approval helps you in other ways. Consider this scenario. A home seller gets two similar offers. One is accompanied by a letter from the buyer's bank that states she is pre-approved for a mortgage in the amount of the offer. The other has no supporting documents. Which offer do you think the seller will consider first? Step 4- Determine Your Wants and Needs Buying a home isn't as difficult as you might think, even if you're short on funds, but the process will go a lot smoother if you get familiar with your real estate market and narrow down your wants and needs before you start looking at houses. Tip 5- Learn to Work with Real Estate Agents Real estate agents represent buyers or sellers -- and in some states they can work as neutral facilitators for either party. It's essential to understand agent duties and loyalties before you make that first phone call. Tip 6- Start Searching for a Home Your agent will give you multiple listing sheets to study. I'm sure you'll also pick up House For Sale magazines and read classified ads in your local newspapers. You'll probably spend time surfing the Internet for homes. You might even plan afternoon drives to preview neighborhoods. Those are all excellent ways to see what's available. Tip 7- Handle Pre-Offer Tasks Deciding whether or not you want to buy a house involves a look at its structure and its features, but there are many other topics that are every bit as important to your purchase.
Tip 8- Make an Offer If you've been home shopping for awhile you might feel confident that you understand the market value of houses in your area and wish to make an offer. It's not unusual for even seasoned home buyers to feel a bit queasy when it's time to make a formal offer. Here are some tips that can help you get the best deal when you're buying a home. Tip 9- Home Inspections and Other Tests In most cases, home inspections are accomplished before the final offer to purchase is made. It's critical however to decide which inspections and tests you want to perform. Tip 10- Avoiding and Correcting Last Minute Problems As your settlement date nears, everyone involved in your real estate and financing transactions should check its progress on a daily basis, because staying on top of things means you'll know immediately if there's a problem that must be dealt with
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