Louisville Home Buyer Tips For Buying A Home During A Recession

Many first time Louisville home buyers are looking for tips for buying a home during a recession, particularly in today’s shaky economy. They recognize that it’s a buyer’s market right now and they know they should strike while the iron’s hot, however they’ve never bought a home before and aren’t really certain where to begin. Rather than end up like a lot of today’s homeowners who are looking at eviction and foreclosure notices they need to make sure they’re doing the right thing and that they are doing it the right way. So here are some first time Louisville home buyer tips for buying a home during a recession.

The first thing you should do is visit your bank or lending institution and get pre-approved for a loan. Not pre-qualified. All the pre-qualification process does is look at your income and subtract your bills and tell you how much you’d have left over to use for a house payment. You want to get pre-approved which means your bank will do the credit check, verify your employment and income, and take into consideration all your bills and credit cards. Then they will actually pre-approve you for a specific dollar amount. This pre-approval will give you more credibility when speaking with Real Estate agents because they’ll know that you’re serious about buying a home if you went to all that trouble. It will also help you when it comes time to negotiate the price. If the seller knows you’ve already been pre-approved he’ll often accept a little lower price because he knows he’s going to get his money faster.

After you’ve been pre-approved, sit down and make a list of all the the things that you have to have in your home. Not everything that you want, but all of the things that you can’t do without. Maybe an extra bedroom or bathroom. Or the laundry room has to be on the main floor. Specific things that you absolutely must have in your new home. If you’re not really sure, why not do a search for available homes on the internet first? Most of them have great pictures so you can see all the features.

Then contact a Louisville Real Estate agent and give them your list and your budget. Be sure to let the agent know if you’re concerned about any particular neighborhoods or schools. Or maybe you’d like to live near work or other family members. The more information you can give the agent the easier it will be for her to find you just the right place to live.

When negotiating your price remember your pre-approval amount. It’s usually a fairly high number compared to your income and you do not have to offer it all on a house. That is just the maximum amount you’ll be able to borrow. Keep in mind that you are also going to have additional expenses as a house owner including taxes and insurance every year. First time Louisville home buyers who are looking for tips about buying a home during a recession should always refer to a Louisville Real Estate agent to get their expert opinions.

Want to find out more about Selling in a seller’s market, then visit Theodore S. Lincoln’s site on how to choose the best Buying foreclosures for your needs.