Mark Slade - FirstTimeBuyer

Answering these questions as early as possible will save you time and effort spent running around to view homes that do not suit you. Once you’ve decided upon your criteria, call your real estate agent. Let him or her know what you’re looking for and what your price range is. He or she will get to work on your behalf, short-listing the properties that meet your criteria so you can start your viewing from there. Then you can finally get to the fun part, finding that perfect home you’ve been dreaming of ! SCHEDULE ADEQUATE TIME When going to view homes, make sure you’ve got plenty of time to really view the home from a critical perspective. Schedule enough time to do a proper inspection. Look into all closets and crawl spaces. It is possible you will be living there for years to come, so five minutes strolling around is not going to cut it. Two hours to view your potential house is an appropriate calendar entry. Research suggests that when buyers spend a longer time viewing a home, they are more likely to end up paying less than the initial asking price. BE THOROUGH

Part and parcel with scheduling adequate time to view the home is using that time well. Be thorough when checking it out. Open drawers, cabinets, and cupboards — the dark back corners of cupboards, outside easy reach or cleaning, are a perfect place to find the telltale signs of bugs or other pests. Look

behind furniture, and even under it to find stains or signs of wear not readily evident. Lift up rugs if necessary. While this may seem rude, it is not. You are about to make a substantial investment and you need to know exactly what you are getting. Sellers have no obligation to inform you of or show you every single defect in the home, so you need to find them yourself. An artfully positioned chair could be hiding something, so feel free to look where you need to.

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