8 Good Home Buying Habits To Have

Do Your Own Research

You’ve been pre-approved by a mortgage broker and now you’re ready to buy a home. That’s fantastic! But hold up—do you know what you want? Is it a condo? A townhouse? Are you planning on getting that picket fence after all? Do you want to buy a primary residence as an investment property?

Chances are that while your North Miami real estate agent is knowledgeable, they’re not mind readers. It’s up to you to get into the nitty gritty of what your dream home looks like and what kind of space you need at present.

If you’re a single professional, that could mean that studio is perfect for you. Maybe you’re a little more ambitious and want a two bed and two bath so that you can rent a room while owning a home and receive a little income. Or maybe you’re getting ready to have a family and need extra space for the baby on the way. Point is, no one knows what you want more than you.

Let Your Agent Call the Listing Agent

Ever heard the saying too many cooks spoil the soup? That’s exactly what happens if you get too wrapped up in the responsibilities of your North Miami real estate agent. While it’s great to have initiative, remember that you’re paying your North Miami real estate agent to negotiate for you on your behalf. There’s no reason to give yourself extra work.

Not to mention that it’s always good to keep some distance between you and the transaction. Especially if it’s your first time buying a home, you might cave and agree to pay more in your excitement to own a home.

Bottom line: let your real estate agent work their magic!

Trust Your Agent More Than the Internet

Yes, this does contradict my first tip—but hear me out. Knowing what you want and learning basic terms so that you can communicate to your real estate agent the type of home you’re looking for is one thing. Looking up property information online and taking it as nothing less than the truth can be problematic.

By arming yourself with only the property information that you find on the internet, you’re missing out! North Miami real estate agents have access to property information that isn’t open to the public. Rather than show up misinformed, get accurate insider tips to help you determine whether or not you want to buy the home you’re looking at.

Take Initiative

Waiting too long to make an offer on your dream home can lead to some serious disappointment. That’s why you should get pre-approved and know what type of home you want and can afford.

Paired with your real estate agent’s property expertise, you should be able to make an offer on a home with confidence if you’ve started the home buying process on the right foot.

Make Appropriate Offers

Making offers requires tact, which is why it’s best to leave it to seasoned, real estate professionals. That said, the figure your real estate agent will be offering comes from you—so make sure it’s reasonable!

There’s a practice in home buying that you should avoid at all costs: lowballing. Lowballing is when a home buyer asks their real estate agent to make a ridiculously low offer on a home. It’s not only insulting to the home seller, but it makes the real estate agent look foolish.

The point of making an offer on a home is to start a conversation! The last thing you’d want is to be disqualified as a potential buyer because of an insensitive offer.

You should make a reasonable offer based on the current home value. Negotiate the price from there if you notice any issues.

Get Pre-Approved Before Looking at Properties

I can’t stress this enough: get pre-approved! Getting pre-approved to buy a home in North Miami is the equivalent of shining a bat signal in the middle of the night. It turns everyone’s eyes onto you, and it shows real estate agents that you can afford to buy a home.

Normally, because people are more familiar with the title of real estate agent, they’ll look for an agent first before getting pre-approved. I guarantee you that if you get pre-approved first, your home buying process will be much smoother and you’ll feel much more confident when shopping for homes.

Negotiate Price on Visible Problems Before Inspection

When you’re getting ready to make an offer on a home, make sure that your offer takes into consideration any issues you have with the house: peeling paint, cracked tiles, and any other issues you’ll probably need to take care of once you assume ownership of the home.

It’s better to make an offer that takes into account visible problems that the offer has than to make an offer and then try to negotiate the price lower once you remember the issues the house has.

Look at Homes Within Your Current Price Range

Last but not least, remember why you got pre-approved! Pre-approvals help North Miami home buyers know how much home they can afford to buy. So if you were pre-approved for a maximum home amount of 200K, don’t go looking for a home that’s worth 350K!

It’s not that you won’t be able to afford this home in the future, but when making such an important decision, you have to be realistic about what you can currently afford. Window shopping for homes out of reach will only lead to disappointment. Frankly, it’s something you should avoid. Especially in such a hot housing market, where homes are selling quickly, you should zero in on homes that you’re eligible for.