5 ways to make house hunting easier

Shopping for a new home can be intimidating. With so many
things to do and think about, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But
it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some good tips for
making the home hunting process a lot easier and less stressful.

1. Get your mortgage arranged in advance.
You don’t want to find the ideal home on the market, only to
face problems arranging a suitable mortgage. You might end
up losing the opportunity. So make mortgage arrangements
in advance by getting “pre-approved”. Then you can shop for
a new home with confidence.

2. Clearly define the kind of home you want, and the
neighborhood you want to live in.
You can’t view every home that’s on the market. If you try,
you’ll burn yourself out! So write down a clear description of
the kind of home you want. How many bedrooms? Big
kitchen? Pool?
And don’t forget the neighborhood. Upscale? Close to
downtown? Lots of trees and parks? Urban and close to
shopping and theatres?
With this information, a good REALTOR® can quickly create a
shortlist of properties that meet your criteria.

3. Take good notes.
After viewing a few homes, you may easily start to forget the
details. Was it property #1 that had the large Elm tree in the
backyard? Or was that property #4? If you take good notes,
you’ll be able to make decisions later on about which homes
to shortlist.

4. Take care of yourself. (And your family.)
Eat right. Pace yourself. Don’t try to view too many homes in
one evening or Saturday afternoon.

5. Get help.
A good REALTOR® can make the home shopping process go
quickly and smoothly.  Remember, there is no out of pocket cost for you to hire a REALTOR® to help you through the buying process.