5 Tips To Get The Best Deal On Your New Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Home Purchase

If you are looking to buy a new home or condo, these 5 Tips can make your home buying experience go smoothly and without hassle. Too many people take the home buying process much too lightly.

For most people buying a home is the single biggest investment in their life. It is not to be taken lightly. Especially if you are trying to get the best deal possible.1. Go Shopping Knowing What You Can Buy
How do you do that? Get pre-approved by a mortgage lender. By working with a good mortgage broker BEFORE you go house hunting, you will find out what your price range will be. Do you want to get the best property you can for the least amount of money? Then make sure you are in the strongest negotiating position possible. Price is only one element in the negotiations, and not necessarily the most important one. Often other terms, such as the strength of the buyer or the length of escrow, are critical to a seller.

Getting pre-approved for a mortgage is pretty easy and painless. We can put you in touch with a number of reputable mortgage brokers who can speak to you over the phone, interview, have you fill out a few forms on line and by fax in just a few days or even sooner, obtain a conditional mortgage pre-approval.

This process is not to be confused with a “pre-qualification”. Don’t bother getting pre-qualified. It is pretty much useless and does not mean anything. In today’s market you are going to want to obtain at minimum a pre-approval.

So the way to make the strongest offer today is to get “pre-approved”. This happens AFTER all information has been checked and verified. You are actually APPROVED for the loan and the only loose end is the appraisal on the property. This process takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on your situation. It’s VERY POWERFUL and a weapon I recommend all my clients have in their negotiating arsenal. If you need pre-approval, I can find you a lender who has a program that will fit your needs.

2. Don’t Call An Agent Who Does Not Represent You
Let’s say you have been on the Internet searching for a home or condo in the Fort Lauderdale real estatearea and you find a few that you want to see. I bet you think calling the name and muber that you see in the ad or on the sign is what you should do. Wrong! That agent works for the seller. Their job is to get the seller the best deal possible, not you.

Most buyers don’t realize that when they just start talking to an agent on the phone that they called from some ad that they are in essence giving valuable information to the enemy. If you tell that agent that you have say you are looking to buy a home for $300,000.00 and that you have to move quick because you ahve a new job, who do you think will get that information? Yep, the seller. You have lost all negotiation power.

Also, did you know that commission rebates were legal in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market? How would you like to get paid for buying a house? How would you like to get a check back at closing to use for closing costs or furniture or whatever you want? An agent working for the seller most likely will not offer that to you, the buyer. If you want the best deal possible and potentially receive a check for thousands of dollars, you need to make that first call to a buyer’s agent to represent you.

3. Know The Difference Between Your Wants, Needs, And Must Haves
When buying a house there are certain components of the house that fall into the aforementioned 3 categories. Take a pad and pencil and on the paper make 3 large boxes. In each box put those items in the box. What are the things you’d really like? A pool, a garage, 2 bathrooms? What are those things you need? central air, fenced yard, impact windows? And finally, what are your must haves? A generator, washer and dryer, dishwasher…it’s possible your must have could come from you needs and likes as well.

The house that satisfies the most of your must haves and needs may be the house that you want to go with. This exercise may keep you from buying a home or condo that may not be what you are looking for. The purchase of your Fort Lauderdale real estate home or condo may be the single biggest purchase in your lifetime, make sure you buy what you want.

Remember that there might not be the “perfect house,” but there are houses that will fit most of your parameters.

When house hunting, keep in mind the difference between what can and what cannot be changed. Features such as the location, view, size of lot, noise in the area, school district, and floor plan usually cannot be changed. Easily changed surface finishes like carpet, wallpaper, color, and window coverings CAN be changed. Imagine each house as if it were vacant. Consider each house on its underlying merits, not the seller’s decorating skills.

4. Control The Transaction, Don’t Be Sold
The best way no to be sold by the seller’s agent is to make sure you have your own agent representing you. It’s free, as the seller will pay for your agent, and your protection in the transaction can be ensured. You will use the mortgage broker of your choice, the attorney of your choice, the title agent or closing agent of your choice. This is your home purchase. Control it!.

Your agent can show you everything available that meets your requirements. Don’t make a decision on a house until you feel that you’ve seen enough to pick the best one. This is a buyer’s market and you hold the leverage and control in your home buying decision ..especially when dealing with bank owned homes in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market.

5. Keep The Credit Cards In Your Pocket
The days of easy mortgages are behind us. Even for those with good credit you are going to have to prove your worthiness. Many prospective home buyers get pre-approved for a mortgage, go house shopping, prepare an offer on a property, get the offer accepted, and then get denied for a mortgage because in the interim their debt to income ration or some other credit factor got thrown out of whack because their balance is too high on their credit cards, or they bought a new car, or financed a living room set…whatever you do, sit tight while buying a home.

Don’t buy anything that can cause your financial picture to change. Your pre-approval was based upon a snapshot at that moment it was taken. Don’t do anything that can cause your great deal to go up in smoke. Even a small fluctuation can cause your interest rate to go up and cost you a lot of money. That’s the best case scenario with the worst being your mortgage being denied.

Follow these 5 Tips and you may be able to get quite a deal on a home or condo in the Fort Lauderdale real estate area.

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If you are interested in learning more about buying a home or condo in Fort Lauderdale or anywhere in South Florida; or if you need any information about the Fort Lauderdale real estate market, please feel free to contact me and it would be my pleasure to assist you.You can contact me at the number shown below or please feel free to contact me by the form below and I, or one of my assistants, will be sure to get right back to you within a few hours, if not sooner.

If you are inquiring about a specific property shown on this site, please include the address of the property in the comment section of the contact form below.

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Robin Sing-Cunningham
robins@robinashley.com
Access USA Realty
Local Fort Lauderdale | South Florida : 954-709-7461
My Assistants:
Barry Johnson: bjohnson@robinashley.com