Beginning Your Home Search

Learn how to survey the housing market, locate promising homes for sale, and decide what you really want in a house.

Beginning Your Home Search


It's good to start your home-search on your own, particularly if you haven't yet chosen an agent. Just going to open houses for a week or two or surfing the Internet will help you get a sense of the local market. Such research can also refine your sense of how much house you can afford, potentially expand your horizons regarding livable neighborhoods, and wise you up to what all the advertising hype really means -- or disguises.
How to Access Listings of Houses for Sale
Somewhere out there is a seller who wants to sell a home as badly as you want to buy one. This means you can count on homes being advertised in at least a few places. Here are the best ways to get up-to-date information:
View online listings. The vast majority of home buyers now use the Web as part of their search. Many websites draw from a central database known as the multiple listing service (MLS). Each site's presentation and ease of use is different though, so you'll want to check around for the ones you like best; try www.homes.com (by a network of realtors). OR you can use one run by the realtors' association in your home state or region or check the websites of major real estate companies such as RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, and Prudential. Although they may have fewer listings (sometimes only those listings held by their own company), they may do a more thorough job of describing the house, complete with exterior and interior photos.
If you're looking for a newly built home, check out www.americanhomeguides.com.Read the local newspaper classifieds, especially the Sunday edition. If you're focused on a particular neighborhood, find out whether that neighborhood has a community newspaper with real estate listings. Many newspapers also post their classified sections online.Drive through neighborhoods that interest you. You may spot "For Sale" signs of homes whose listings you overlooked. Some may be "FSBOs" -- that is, homes for sale by owner, without the help of a real estate agent. FSBOs are not always advertised widely. Another way to make sure you don't miss any FSBOs is to check websites dedicated to them, such as www.owners.com.
When you see a home that interests you, either make an appointment to see it or check whether an open house has been scheduled.
Decide What You Want Most in a House
After you've begun surveying the territory, and perhaps experienced a reality check regarding what you can afford, create your personalized "ideal house profile." Simply write down:
Features that you can't live without, such as a good school district, no difficult stairs to climb, or space to grow vegetables.Features that you hope for, but that aren't crucial, such as a fireplace, a separate laundry room, and walking distance to a coffee shop.Features that are "absolute no ways," meaning you know you'll forever be sorry if you buy a house that has them. These tend to be location problems (which can't be fixed), such as location at the top of a hill, in a flood zone, in a lousy school district, or in a high-crime or noise area.
Carry your ideal house profile with you whenever you visit a house. To be even more organized, turn your profile into a checklist, and fill one out every time you visit a house. For a preprinted house profile and checklist, see Nolo's eFormKit How to Buy a House in California, by Ralph Warner, Ira Serkes, and George Devine.
Working With an Agent
Having taken these preliminary steps, you'll find that, if and when you do hire an agent, you'll be able to focus the agent's energies on the most productive, final phases of your home search. You may also find that, even after hiring an agent, you prefer to visit some homes on your own, for convenience or even to escape the agent's influence.

Copyright 2008 Nolo

First Time Homebuyers Credit

The first-time homebuyer credit is a new tax credit included in the recently enacted Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. For homes purchased in 2008, the credit operates like an interest-free loan because it must be repaid over a 15-year period.

The credit was expanded in 2009 for homes purchased in 2009, increasing the amount of the credit and eliminating the requirement to repay the credit, unless the home ceases to be your principal residence within the 36-month period beginning on the purchase date.

The credit is 10 percent of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum available credit of $7,500 ($8,000 if you purchased your home in 2009) for either a single taxpayer or a married couple filing a joint return, but only half of that amount for married persons filing separate returns. The full credit is available for homes costing $75,000 or more ($80,000 if purchased after Dec. 31, 2008, and before Dec. 1, 2009).

If you meet all first-time homebuyer eligibility requirements, see Form 5405, for more details:
Form 5405

For further detail visit:
http://www.irs.gov/



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