2 More Steps Every Buyer Must Take in an Active Market

2 More Steps Every Buyer Must Take in an Active Market 

In the last video blog, I talked about the importance of getting pre-approved to arm your Realtor with the tools he or she needs to help you purchase a new home in an active market. In this video blog, I want to expand on that topic and discuss a few important steps related to purchasing a home when you have a home to sell also.

Step 1 – Contact a Realtor Before It’s Too Late 

It's important to contact a Realtor to look at your current house as soon as you start thinking about a new home purchase. A good listing agent will perform a market analysis on your current home, help you understand net proceeds from its sale, and put you in the best position to make an offer on a new home.

Step 2 – Make Adjustments Based on Market Analysis 

The process of going through a market analysis will identify areas of improvement for your home that might be worth considering before listing it for sale. Some things are obvious and easy to improve like simple repairs and de-cluttering certain areas. Other items may emerge that will help increase the value of your home like a bathroom or kitchen renovation, deck replacement, etc. A good Realtor will help walk you through the market analysis and your current home condition and make recommendations for improvements to maximize value.

 Step 3 – Understand Your Net Proceeds 

When you sell your house, unfortunately you don't get to keep all of the sales price. There are many items that get deducted from your sale at closing and affect the bottom line dollars you get to keep. Things like Realtor fees, closing costs, and escrows will greatly impact the amount of proceeds you get from the sale of your home. And remember, you proceeds are also impacted by your final sales price and any existing loans that need to paid off at closing, so only use a range when identifying your funds available for the purchase of your next home.

Finally, these steps and the steps listed in my previous video blog really highlight the need to identify a good Realtor to help you sell your existing and purchase your next home. A good Realtor will help you understand your homes current value and how to maximize it, be smart with negotiations when it's time to buy and sell, and will help you achieve the greatest value exchange during the transactions. As always, I appreciate your referrals and am available to answer any questions about home financing you or your friends may have.