Buyers' Agent:
My average actual
sale price - to list price
as a buyers' agent is
92% of list price.

       ask for ellen: 610.253.6123

. . . buying tips for home-buyers

• Figure out how much $$ is a comfortable range. Unless you are planning to pay cash - before you start looking at homes, speak with a lender about savings, debts, income, assets, etc. to establish what $$ range will be most comfortable for you. Try a mortgage calculator, to get an idea of range... keep in mind, you will also need to pay for heat, electric, taxes and homeowners insurance... if you put less than 20% down on the property you may also need to pay for PMI (private mortgage insurance) -- see fannie mae mortgage calculators.
  Below are some good lenders i've recently worked with. A pre-approval is FREE, and required with any bid/offers.
  Here's a nice pre-qualification worksheet to try out, to get to what $$$ is most affordable.
  
• Figure out how far you'd like to commute & drive around some areas/neighborhoods to establish your target areas. If you are worried about safety, it's always a good idea to speak with the local police station about whether crime happens in the area.
• Figure out what you would like and what you must have in a home (# bedrooms, # baths, garage, acreage, certain schools, square footage, style, older home vs. new construction) -- all useful info. in your search.
• Pick up a local newspaper to get a sense of prices and local flavor.
• Speak with a buyers' agent about available properties in your area/range and start a search.

If you would like me to do a preliminary search for you of current listings that might be of interest, just send me an email with a few of the parameters you are looking for and I'd be happy to keep you posted on properties that fit the bill!               

C A U T I O N ! Buyer Beware:

...be wary of mortgage pitfalls - ask questions!

• pre-payment penalty - find out if there is one on your loan, if you sell in x years or want to re-finance
• adjustable rate mortgages - find out the # years it is a fixed rate and when the 'adjustable' kicks in... you may get stuck with huge interest rate % down the road!
• once you've chosed a lender & loan, get the lender's 'good faith estimate' which shows you all the related costs to get that loan

ellen@realsellen.com
610.360.3394