Buy a Home

ASSESSING YOUR NEEDS

It is easy when you are looking at homes to fall in love with certain features but it may not be the best home to meet your family’s needs. Before you even start looking make two lists, one describing your dream home and the other one describing the features that are absolutely necessary for you or your family.

SEEKING OUT A MORTGAGE LENDER

You will need to get pre-approved or pre-qualified for a loan to purchase your new home. A person that is pre-approved has more control with the Seller when it comes to making an offer to purchase a home than someone who is just pre-qualified. Getting pre-approved takes a little more time however it is worth it in the long run. The Ritter Team is available to assist you in finding the perfect loan officer and lender to meet your needs.

GATHERING INFORMATION

The type of neighborhood or community that you move into is almost as important as the house. Some things to consider:

• Drive times to and from work
• Proximity to family, friends
• Public and private schools serving the area
• Area amenities, attractions and recreation

In order to determine what is most important to you when it comes to neighborhoods and communities, it may be helpful for you to compile two lists: one list that represents your wish list for your ideal neighborhood or community and one that contains absolute necessities for what you require in your neighborhood or community.

The Ritter Team is very skilled and helpful in assisting you to determine what is important to you and your family and finding neighborhoods and communities to meet those needs.

MAKING AN OFFER

When it comes to real estate transactions in Minnesota everything, absolutely everything, needs to be done in writing. Almost everything is negotiable when it comes to buying a home. Some things that you will want to consider are: closing costs, whether or not appliances are staying and repairs that need to be completed. Keep in mind that you may not get things exactly how you want them, both the Buyer and the Seller need to agree.

HIRING AN INSPECTOR

It is a very good idea to hire an inspector to inspect the property you are purchasing. The inspector is typically hired by the Buyer and the inspector’s services are paid for by the Buyer. An inspector checks the safety of the home and mainly looks at the structure and items such as the water heater, plumbing and the electrical systems and issues a written report of findings to the Buyer. This can be a very helpful tool for a Buyer in determining whether or not to proceed with purchasing a home.

PREPARING FOR CLOSING

As you are preparing for the big day you need to make sure that you have taken care of everything your lender requires of you in order to close the transaction and that all documents, funds, etc. needed for the closing are going to be available.

MOVING CHECKLIST

Moving to a new home can be an exciting journey. Whether you’re changing cities or neighborhoods, a move is not only a change of scenery; it’s the start of a new chapter in life. Yet, moving can also be very stressful, often seeming like one thing after another has to be done. By finding the right moving service and having a good, though flexible, moving plan, most of the common moving headaches can be easily avoided. { VIEW CHECKLIST HERE }