I'm Ready To Buy A Home. What Are The Important Things To Know Before Buying?

Buying a home can be stressful. The staff of the Boston Globe assembled a list of things to keep in mind as you enter the home buying process.

1. Get your financing in order. The seller wants to know if they accept the offer, the deal will go through. Most experts recommend having a pre-approval within the past 30 days.

2. Understand your time horizon. If you are buying for the short term you might consider whether the property is a good investment and specifically will it be attractive to the next buyer.

3. Know the overall market conditions. Investigate the comparable property sales for the past six months. Your agent should be able to provide you with this information.

4. Search and buy within your means. Don’t buy if you can barely make payments each month.

5. If you are waiting for prices to go lower, think again. As evidenced over the last few years, real estate can be unpredictable. However, most experts agree that after looking at the numbers, it may not continue to go down.

6. Don’t get sucked in by appearances. Buyers should keep in mind that sellers are staging their homes to look the best possible. Pay attention beyond the decorations.

For the complete list from the Boston Globe, visit consumerist.com.

Sonja Bush

Broker Associate – DRE #01904399