Buying a home is one of the most exciting-and daunting-things you’ll ever do. With so many choices to make and so much at stake, it’s essential that you be prepared. Check out these secrets from industry professionals to find your dream home, land a loan, and ace your home buying adventure without a hitch.
Understand your finances While you’re searching, get an idea of what you can afford.
Lenders help you determine what you can afford when you’re buying a home. A mortgage pre-approval is a lender’s commitment to helping you finance a home up to a certain amount.
Understanding the cost of homes near you will help you determine how much to offer on a home.
Understand what happens when you’re ready to make an offer. Once you’ve found a house you like, you’ll work with your agent to make an offer. Familiarize yourself with the process so you know what to expect.
Home inspectors help identify any underlying issues your home may have—such as problems with the foundation or electrical system. Getting an inspection before closing can help you decide if the home is for you, or whether you want to try to negotiate a better price.
When your offer has been accepted, you’ll go under contract.
A home appraisal helps determine how much your home is worth. The appraiser is typically chosen by your lender.
Inspections are highly recommended to help find any underlying issues that may affect the value of your home and how much work it needs.
Title insurance is required by law and helps protect buyers and lenders against problems that may arise when the title of the home is transferred from one buyer to another.
You are required by law to get home insurance when you purchase a home. Shop around to find the best deals. Tip: Bundling your home, auto, and other insurance can save you money.
Home warranties help protect you if large ticket items—like appliances—fail after you have bought the home. If you purchase a home warranty plan before closing, it will be included in your closing costs. Sometimes, the seller will purchase a home warranty plan for the buyer.
A real estate agent is a REALTOR when he or she becomes a member of the National Association of REALTORS, The Voice for Real Estate, the world’s largest professional association. The term “REALTOR” is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS and abides by its strict Code of Ethics.
Bring the office with you wherever you go with the realtor.com app for professionals. Our mobile app can help you communicate with ease and connect with new leads fast – anywhere, anytime.
The realtor.com pro app helps ensure you don’t miss an opportunity to connect with new leads and can help you convert leads thanks to streamlined engagement, tracking and management tools and optional real-time notification alerts.
Key benefits of the realtor.com pro app:
- Activate instant push notifications to be sent directly to your smartphone so you don’t miss your realtor.com leads
- View lead contact information and other relevant details (as available)
- Call, text or email leads and contacts directly from the app to help streamline your follow up
- Keep your leads and contacts organized by updating their status on the go
Agents with Connections℠ Plus can access all of the benefits above, plus:
- Consolidate and manage all your leads from over 150 sources, including realtor.com
- View important details about your leads, including property and listing agent information (as available)
- Have your communications and lead interactions within the app automatically tracked and accessible in a simple timeline view
- Simplify your day and stay organized by accessing your recent leads, contacts and communication history all in one place
Customize your listings on Realtor.com
Customizing your listings on Realtor.com is strategically important, as consumers consistently show a preference for viewing properties with additional listing photos, virtual and 3d tours, and open house information.
If you would like to add additional photos to your listing, add a longer property description (up to 2500 characters), or other additional information that we do not receive from your MLS, you can do this by customizing your listing in your Realtor.com dashboard.
Realtor.com receives information directly from your MLS to be as accurate as possible for our visitors. Depending on your MLS, this can contain the listing’s photos, open house information, property description information, virtual and 3d tour links, and your brokerage website or custom website links on your listings.
Realtor.com pulls listing information directly from your MLS to be as accurate as possible for our visitors, and does not make changes to any of the information received. The time frame for a change to reflect from your MLS can take from approximately 30 minutes, and up to 1 day, depending on our agreement with your MLS.
