| How to Buy Your Home, Part 2 |
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Begin your search. Almost 80 percent of all home searches begin on the Internet. You can search through literally hundreds of online listings, take virtual tours, and view photographs of neighborhoods and homes. The Internet can be a valuable resource to help you narrow your search. Be realistic in your search. While location is important, so is affordability. First-time home buyers often have to settle on housing that isn't quite as nice as the home they grew up in. But that's okay. The goal is getting into a home. You can always trade up later on if you must. Negotiation. When it's time for negotiations, it's the time to hold your emotions in check. You obviously want the home, but until you have purchased it, it's just a house. If this is the first time you've purchased a home, be sure to enlist the assistance of family members or friends who have purchased houses in the past. Otherwise, you can rest assured that you'll pay too much. Negotiation need not be an unpleasant experience. Stressful, yes; unpleasant, not necessarily. Understanding the reason the seller is selling can be helpful and give you some perspective. If the seller is particularly anxious to sell, for example, that puts you in a better negotiating position. Purchase-arid-sale agreement. A purchase-and-sale agreement (P&S) is a contract between a buyer and a seller that specifies the terms and price of the sale. Prior to signing the P&S and forking over the deposit, you should ask an attorney to review it. You will want to include some contingencies in the agreement, typically including obtaining the financing (which will require the lender to appraise the property), a satisfactory home inspection, and a clear title. A contingency will let you back out of the P&S if a stipulated event arises, for example if the home inspection finds that the house is built over a nuclear waste dump. |
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