Narrowing Down Your Property Options Before You Visit In Person

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Identifying Real Estate Risks After having a difficult time financially for quite some time, I realized that part of my problem was my personal housing costs. I really began evaluating what I wanted out of a home, and I realized that I needed to shop for a place that would work better for what I needed. I started paying more and more attention to real estate risks, and it occurred to me that I hadn't invested in a smart property. After talking with my real estate agent, I started focusing on changing my ways, and it was incredible to see how much brighter my future became.

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It takes a couple of minutes to browse an online property listing. It takes at least 30 minutes — and often much longer — to look at a home in person. That's not even counting the time spent driving to and from the home! If you're on a busy schedule, then, you don't want to waste a lot of time looking at homes that don't suit your needs. Here are some tips to help you narrow down your property options before you visit in person.

Cross out homes that are outside of your price range.

It can be tempting to look at a home that is priced higher than you can afford in hopes that the owners will come down in price significantly and accept a lower offer. But the reality is that this rarely happens. You might have an offer that's $5,000 or so under asking price accepted, but you shouldn't go much lower than that. So don't waste your time looking at homes that are listed for more than you can possibly afford.

Look at neighborhoods on Google Maps before visiting.

Before you go visit a home, look at the satellite images of the home and area on Google Maps. If the neighborhood seems unappealing, then there's no need to visit. Pay attention to how far the home is from the nearest grocery store, highway on-ramp, and other necessities, too. If you want to be within 10 minutes of certain amenities, then don't bother visiting homes that are further away than this.

Make a list of deal-breakers, and cross out homes that have them.

There are probably things that you would rather not have in a home but would deal with if the home was otherwise perfect. This might be things like vinyl floors or an outdated kitchen. Then, there are probably things you do not want to deal with in your house, no matter what. For instance, maybe you do not want a house with a wet cellar or one that needs its roof replaced. Make a list of these deal-breakers, and then look through each home listing carefully. If the home seems to have any of your deal-breakers, there's no reason to go see it.

While it is a good idea to go see homes you like in person, you don't want to waste time seeing homes that would never have fit your needs. By adhering to the tips above, you can satisfy this goal.

To learn more or look at properties for sale, contact a real estate agent.

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