Home Buying 101  With The Shiner Team

Help you understand the home buying process from qualifying through closing

Pre-qualifies you for the best price range to consider based on your personal financial situation

Guide you in determining requirements for the right house to suit your individual needs based ontheir familiarity with different house styles and neighborhoods

Assist you in your search for a home based on their knowledge of the area and the housing market

Advise you as to the best price to offer for a home based on their knowledge of what comparable houses   are being sold for

Track the various phases involved in meeting your contractual obligations as the buyer

Lead you through the home inspection phase and negotiates on your behalf

Coordinate the supporting contractual paperwork required for settlement

Accompanie you to the final "walk-through" of the property to ensure the seller has met all their obligations

Organize the details of your settlement amongst all parties to ensure a smooth transition

Be Prepared When Buying

Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.

Aim for a home you can really afford.

The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you'll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts, and expenses affect what you can afford.

If you can't put down the usual 20 percent, you may still qualify for a loan.

There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low-interest mortgages that require a down payment as small as 3 percent of the purchase price.

Get professional help.

Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an agent, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.

Choose carefully between points and rate.

When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points -- a portion of the interest that you pay at closing -- in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time -- say three to five years or more -- it's usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.

Before house hunting, get pre-approved.

Getting pre-approved will you save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can't afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history.

 Do your homework before bidding.

Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that's about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.

Hire a home inspector.

Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But that's just the bank's way of determining whether the house is worth the price you've agreed to pay. Separately, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.