Whats the best thing to do when looking for your first house?

Me and my partner are first time buyers - what should we do?

I'm not sure what stage of looking you're at.
Are you looking to buy or rent?
Do you need to borrow? Have you established how much you can borrow and if that amount is credible in terms of repayments and your combined income?
If renting, do you know how much you can afford each month?
Talk to your bank? Do they have free financial advisors that you can make use of?

Do you know where you want to live? Have you been through the neighbourhood to look at the area?

Go to the various estate agents and pick up details of property within your price bracket. OK - so prices might be falling, you'll be given details of properties outside of your price bracket as well, but the vendor may not be willing to drop their price at this stage. Read through these details, discard any properties that do not meet your needs. When you view properties look at only 2 or 3 properties every other day. This is an incredibly stressful activity. Overloading at this stage is easy and will cause tension.

Try and draw a floor plan of the properties that you like, it will help when you are talking about their various merits later on.

Don't start to feel loyal to anyone agent, yes you may like them, yes they may be more helpful than any other, but this is going to be your home, if they're not selling it, well tough.

Do other things apart from trying to find your home. You need time to relax and chill. As I said before, it can be very stressful.

Read the descriptions carefully, they'll tell you a lot and little.
In England very many homes have double glazing, this normally means plastic windows. Plastic windows stink, I prefer wood. Wood allows your home to breath. But that's just me. All I'm saying is read between the lines and work out what these 'great' selling points really mean.

Another example is a home that is in excellent decorative order. It'll be more expensive than a home that looks like it needs some tlc.
Once the vendor has moved out you'll still need to redecorate as they'll have left holes or marks from their fixtures and fittings. Wall paper can hide any amount of sins that you may otherwise have noticed.

Have fun, hope you find what you're looking for.

location,location,location!!!!!!

First thing you need to do is check into all the first time home owners buying programs. There's a lot of free money out there right now for first timers, but this money is going to expire at the beginning of the year so you need to act quick. You need to get pre approved for your loan. Get a fixed loan. The real estate market is on a downward trend right now, so you'll need to buy right and negotiate the selling price. I don't recommend signing a buyers contact with a realtor. This really limits your buying power having a contract with a realtor. When you find a house I would recommend going to your county's website and get a list of all your neighbors and do a background check on them and make sure you're not moving next door to a sexual predator. This is all free public information. Never trust a realtor. They're nothing more than a used car salesman. They want your money and that's it(period). Having a Home Inspection is the best first investment you make. New or Used. A home inspection can save you thousands in the long run.

Find out how much a bank or building society will lend you first.Its no good looking for a house if you don't know your spending limit.

Visit places three times.During the day,at night and when it is raining.The first two will give you an idea of how busy an area is and the third will show up any problems in the attic etc.

Hire an Atty to write up an ironclad contract DETAILING what happens if (and statistically you probably will) you break up. DO NOT skip this step unless you are married and afforded those protections by law.

Go to a LOCAL financing concern and get yourself prequalified to see how much house you can afford/look for, then make sure it sounds doable to both of YOU. Only take the mortgage you are comfortable with not what someone working for a fat pay off tells you.

Find a buyers agent, do not skip this step as first timers either.

Now you have found your dream home, profession inspector, NEVER EVER skip this step.

How much do you have for a down payment, if nothing forget about it and wait while you save up at minimum 5 %

How's your credit? If there are bads clean them up NOW.

Finally, well for me anyway, have you sat down together and made up a budget? If not now is the time.

Have a hefty down payment, good jobs, good credit ratings and a loan pre-approval (not pre-qualification).

Stay away from balloon notes and ARMs. Never buy the best house on the block, it's better to buy a more modest house in a better neighborhood.

Know the neighborhood's personality, not just how nice the house itself is. The neighborhood is your home, too.

NEVER use the seller's agent. His job is to serve the seller, not you. Get a buyers' agent.

Be sure the contract offer has contingencies to protect you if you want to cancel it. Don't overbuy expecting values (or your paychecks) to go up. Buy what you can afford now.

Since you mention "partner" rather than spouse, be sure you have a solid contract spelling out the rights/responsibilities of both parties in a break-up.

1. Find out the maximum you can borrow and what the monthly payments be expected to be.

2. Look on http://www.rightmove.co.uk for properties and http://www.upmystreet.co.uk to know about the street/area.

Location it should be near the market, hospital, church and school and most of all it should be a place where you and you're family want to grow old. A place where you can stay and enjoy even in your retirement days.

the best thing to do when you are looking for your first house is to check out the locality in which the house exists, are there enough services around like chemists,bus stops,grocery shops etc. Always a find a silent area having less sound pollution

Consider hiring a real estate agent or Realtor. Then find a mortgage broker or bank to determine how much you can borrow, your agent should be able to assist with this step. Interview no less than 5 agents. I'd recommend hiring a well qualified broker. In addition hire a real estate attorney. If you take the time to become extremely well educated in real estate you could just hire an attorney, but I'd still recommend the buyer's agent. Don't just hire the first real estate agent you find in the phone book.

Ask questions of any agent or Realtor. I'd recommend printing out a questionnaire and having them fill it out and return it to you and schedule an interview (or not) based upon their answers. Search google for more questions or feel free to contact me via my website's email.

Are you a Realtor or a real estate agent?

Are you an Exclusive Buyer's Agent?
-very important EBA's do not have listings and only work with buyers.

If you are not a Realtor how can you assist me without access to the MLS?

What sources do you use to find a house for me?

Do you exclude FSBO homes?

Will you show me homes both on the MLS and not found on the MLS?

Will you refund/rebate me any agent incentives such as bonuses, or higher commission rates above our buyer's agreement?
-If you sign a buyer agent agreement and agree to pay the agent x%, lets say 3% to find you a home why should the agent collect anything above that agreed amount? This becomes an ethics issue in my opinion, the agent's motives become questioned if they only show you homes that offer the agent $x,xxx bonus or x% above their commission.

Please define intermediary and dual agency?

How do intermediary and dual agency differ?

Does your brokerage engage dual agency or intermediary?

What if I do not want either dual agency or intermediary?
-The brokerage may decline to accept you as a client.

Are you familiar with Trulia, Zillow, Postlets, craigslist, and other online sources of housing that may have properties we would be interested in, but are not listed in the local MLS?

Will you accept a 3 day or one week buyer representation agreement to determine if we are a good fit?
-If the say no move on to he next agent.

Can you please tell me about agency?

Can you define and provide a comparative market analysis?

Please provide references of previous clients or employers (names and numbers).

Are you a full-time or part-time agent/broker? Do you have another job?

Are you in good standing with all state agencies/commissions on real estate?

Have you ever had a complaint (including ethics) filed against you that was successful or unsuccessful (either state or organizational - Realtor)? If yes please explain.

Why should I hire you?

Should I get an inspection? Why?

Who do you recommend for inspection, appraisal, mortgage broker/bank/lender contract work? Why?

If you make a mistake in my contract how will you remedy it?

How would you handle another party committing a mistake, say a mortgage company agrees to a cost then fails to update a document and I have to provide extra money at closing I did not plan for?

How would you handle a situation where a property disclosure indicates an central AC unit is in good working condition, but upon inspection is discovered to be in need of replacement and the seller's agent insists that the deal move forward and that the home warranty will cover this issue?
-Just so you know this is an act that is unethical by a theoretical seller's agent. The seller's agent is attempting to

Here are some other links to review:

http://www.texasrealtoronline.com/issues/0600/legal/legal0600.html

http://midtnrealty.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/questions-to-ask-your-buyers-agent/

http://www.homegain.com/info_center/buyer/get_started/question_buyer_agent/show_article

http://homebuying.about.com/od/realestateagents/tp/Agentinterview.htm

http://www.exclusivebuyersagents.com/

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/real-estate/agency1.asp

http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/real-estate/house-buying11.htm

Wait house prices ar still dropping, you will end up with negative equity

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