If you?ve made the decision to purchase a home in Austin, you have made a good choice. But, there are things that you?ll need to do before finalizing the purchase if you want to make sure you are getting a good deal.
The most important thing to remember when going into the transaction is that the Austin real estate market is a buyer?s market. Even though Austin has not been hit nearly as hard as the rest of the nation, it has still been hit. And, the same things that are making it hard for homeowners to sell their homes nationwide are happening here too.
Unemployment has caused a decrease in the pool of qualified buyers. There simply aren?t as many people in Austin today who are in a stable enough position to purchase a home as there were two years ago. But, making matters even worse is the fact that the financing options that were once available are, for the most part, gone.
It used to be that as long as you had a 530 credit score you could purchase a home with very little to no money down. With the fall of sub-prime lending, however, these options have all but evaporated. There are no sub prime loans available any longer. Conventional financing will not lend above 90% for a home purchase.
These banks will still allow you to 80/20 financing, which means that they give you a loan for 80% of the purchase price and allow you to get a second mortgage to pay off the other 20%. The problem is that there aren?t any banks available to lend that other 20%. The Federal Housing Administration will still lend up to 96.5% of the purchase price, but have very strict approval guidelines, including a credit score minimum of 640. So, if you have already obtained a pre-approval for financing, you are in a very good negotiating position.
If you?ve decided on a home and are ready to make an offer, you are going to want to contact a couple of professionals to help you ensure that you are getting a good price. First of all, the most important thing that you can have done is a home inspection.
Unless you are a professional contractor, the chances are good that you will not know where to look or what to look for to see if there are any major structural problems with a home. Most home inspectors will offer guarantees based on their inspections. So, not only will you know every little thing that is wrong with the house, but you will also be able to feel very comfortable that nothing is going to fall apart shortly into owning the home.
The next professional you?ll want to contact is a real estate appraiser. Having the house appraised will give you very good leverage for negotiation and give you a very accurate idea of what the house is really worth. Knowing beforehand what will need to be repaired as well as the current, as is value of the home will lead you toward the best opening bid.
Don?t be afraid to bid very low. Again, you are the one with the power in this scenario. It used to be that a bid that was too low would simply result in a flat out refusal from the seller, killing the deal. But in today?s market, this is typically not the case.
You?ll find that if it is below what they can accept, instead of flat our refusing the offer, most sellers will come back with a counter offer that will certainly be below both the asking price and the appraised value. If you follow these simple tips, you?ll be putting yourself in a great financial position. You?ll be able to purchase a great home at a great price and will reap the benefits for years to come.
Article by R Chandler Smith, an internet marketing and SEO expert in the Austin Texas area. See more of his work at Website Marketing Austin and Houston Real Estate Appraisal.
Source: http://estate.learntrend.net/loan/tips-for-buying-real-estate-in-a-buyers-market/
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