Before You Buy a Home Hire a Home Inspector!

When You Find a Home That You Like

Ready to buy a home? Before signing that contract, you absolutely need to hire a home inspector to inspect it. It seems pretty straightforward and easy: find a home you like, hire a certified home inspector to inspect it, and then the final offer depends on the results of the inspection. But, as is typical in real estate, it’s not always as simple as that. The trick is finding a home inspector who will do the job properly. You’d think that wouldn’t be a problem, but unfortunately home inspection is one of those areas that attracts questionable practices and shady characters who prey on people ready to buy a home.

Ready to Buy a Home? Do Your Homework First!

Once you find a home to buy you should already have done the research you need to find a home inspector. There are a number of ways to go about this. Searching for home inspectors who have a good rating on Angie’s List is one place to start. You can also try the American Society of Home Inspectors (www.ASHI.org). It is probably not a good idea to use a home inspector who is referred by your real estate agent, though.Real estate agents have a vested interest in a passing grade for the houses they are representing, which could present a conflict of interest for a home inspector. It is best to avoid any potential for temptation to result in a dishonest home inspection by finding a home inspector on your own, independent of your Real Estate Agent.

When You Find a Home Inspector

Once you have found a home inspector yourself, without help from a real estate agent or broker, the next step is to check to see if they have been the subject of complaints. You can check the Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List and also your state regulatory agency that oversees licensing for home inspectors. This is a crucial step in the process of buying a home! Make sure the home inspector is thorough; ask what they look for when they inspect the home. If you can afford it, it could be worth having a second home inspector take a look at the same home, especially if it is a very expensive home. Bay Area Real Estate isn’t cheap!

Selling a Home?

If you have a home for sale, it might also benefit you to find a home inspector to go over your home, too. Knowing what a home buyer’s inspector might turn up can help you address it beforehand and save you from having to accept a low offer. If there are discrepancies between what your inspector finds and what the home buyer’s inspector finds, you will have cause to request a third home inspection. All of this home inspection activity may seem excessive, but when you consider what’s at stake, potentially tens of thousands of dollars, it’s worth doing. Also sell income property, residential lots and mobile home.

Price a Home to Sell, and What to Offer When You Find a Home to Buy

Price a Home to Sell

Conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to sell a home is to start higher than you really expect to get, and to then lower the price as necessary based on the offers you get. In some ways this makes sense. Ideally, a person trying to find a home that suits their needs could make an offer that’s lower than your asking price yet higher than what you expected to get. But this can draw out the time it takes to sell a home; if you price it too high you may turn off potential buyers who won’t even bother to make an offer, and may simply just check back occasionally to see if the price has gone down. When you decide how much you want for your home, if actually makes sense to price it low.

Price a Home to Sell Quickly

Setting a low price seems counterintuitive, but the reasoning behind it is solid. When Home Buyers Find A Home they like, a low price will prompt them to make an offer more quickly. The seller doesn’t have to take the first offer, remember. A low price will often bring in competing bids, driving the final price up. This is a tactic that a good real estate agent will use to not only sell a home quickly, but for more money. When potential buyers see a price dropping they may wonder why the home hasn’t sold yet, but a home getting lots of interest and bids generates more interest.

Buying a Home: Making an Offer When You Find a Home

The other side of this equation is the home buyer, and someone looking to sell a home is usually also looking to buy a home. First, you should be pre-approved for a mortgage before you start seriously trying to find a home. You should then find a real estate agent to work with, and make sure whoever you do find is what’s known as a buyer’s agent. This is a real estate agent who is there to serve the home buyer’s best interests. This is very important because a real estate agent who represents both has a greater interest in closing a sale quickly versus getting you the best deal when you find a home you like. Let your real estate agent guide you when making an offer, as they will be able to find similar homes the area and they they’re “sold for” price was versus their “asking price.”

Researching Prices Online for Real Estate for Sale

Don’t put too much stock in home prices for similar homes you find on web sites such as Zillow; you won’t be able to verify if the information is correct and it could lead to make a low-ball offer and get shut out of making another offer. Worse, you could end up making a higher offer than you should have. MLSListings.com lets you do a search for recently sold real estate, you can look for homes similar to the one you are looking to buy and see their actual sale price.