When looking to purchase a home in Sarasota Florida for the first time, it can be very exciting. Many folks are tempted to jump right in and start looking for a Sarasota homes, planning for new furniture and making offers. But wait, it’s very important to start at the beginning and follow the steps before submitting your offer.
Step One – Can you improve your Credit Rating
If you are considering buyin a home in Sarasota Flordia, you should start now to work on your credit. If you have 6 months before you make an offer on your home in Sarasota, it’s quite likely you can improve your credit rating and reduce the interest rate on your new loan.
Step Two – Hire a Great Real Estate Agent
As a homebuyer in Sarasota, it shouldn’t cost you anything to hire a qualified Real Estate agent as the seller generally pays for all the commissions.
Working with a real estate agent in Sarasota gives you a huge advantage. You get access to local knowledge and experience and someone very familiar with the area. You have a trained negotiator to negotiate on your behalf. You have someone with a wide variety of contacts, from lenders to property inspectors you can call on.
Step Three – Get Pre-Approval for a Loan
A pre-approval will help you determine how much of a home you can afford and is a lot of the homework in the home buying process. You might get approved for a loan that’s more than you can really afford or want, that doesn’t mean you should do it. After all, that’s where the term ‘house poor’ came from.
Once you figure out how much you can really afford and don’t forget to submit the pre-approval letter with your purchase offer as sellers are much more likely to consider your offer seriously knowing that you can afford the loan.
As a buyer, you will be well ahead of others by working on your credit, having a pre-approval letter from your lender and are using an experienced real estate ageent to guide you through the home buying process in Sarasota!
There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in Sarasota real estate. For complete information about the Sarasota real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything Sarasota real estate at www.StephanieBurwood.com. Please feel free to contact me with any of your real estate or mortgage related questions and I will be more than glad to answer your questions. Call me on my cell at 941.705.0987.