Real Estate Questions From Home Buyers –Answered!

Shreveport-Bossier Home Buyers!  Here are some of the Top Real estate questions around when you’re new to the buying process. Buying a home is thrilling, scary, sometimes weird, often epic, and never dull. You’re ponying up a huge wad of cash for a place you’ll inhabit hopefully for years to come. As such, you’re bound to have a lot of questions throughout every step of the process.

Real estate questions ahead

As an expert local agent in the Shreveport-Bossier Metro I have encountered numerous questions but these tend to rise to the top. 

Q: How much home can I afford?

That depends, of course—on your income and other financial obligations; plug them into realtor.com’s Home Affordability Calculator for a good idea.  And do it before you start shopping.  If you see houses you love which then end up being outside your price range you open yourself up to massive disappointment.  Make sure to meet with a lender first to get pre-approved for a home loan (added bonus: pre-approval makes you much more attractive to sellers especially in this competitive market).

Q: Can I buy a home and sell my current one at the same time?

Yes, you can—but it’s the real estate equivalent of walking a tightrope. This is one of the trickiest questions to answer.  On the one hand, if you buy a home before you sell the one you’re in, you’re overextended financially; if you sell before you buy, you might need to rent awhile before finding a new place. But there are ways to do both at once, and one option is to instate a “sale contingency” in your contract. This means you only agree to buy a home if you can sell the one you’re in.  Just remember, buying and selling of real estate is a mutually agreed upon endeavor.  If the seller doesn’t like your terms they can always so no.

Q: How many homes should I see before making an offer?

That’s entirely up to you but I recommend home shopping online months in advance to become familiar with the market.  Then narrow down your online-homes to your Top 10, then down to your Top 3-5.  Seeing more than that confuses everyone because homes start to blend into each other and can become very overwhelming.  If you want to streamline the process, it can help to really hone in on a particular neighborhood you’re interested in.  That being said, if you feel limited by your options, it may be time to expand to surrounding areas.

Q: What do you think the seller will accept as a fair price?

As a rule of thumb, knocking 5% off the asking price won’t ruffle many feathers. If it’s been sitting on the market for months then venturing below that can be possible.  Just keep in mind you just never know how low a seller is willing to go, since everyone has different motivations for selling.  If the sellers are eager to move, you could luck out and score an awesome deal.

Q: How quickly can I close?

Typical escrow periods are from 30 to 45 days but again it really depends on the needs of the buyer and seller and what each party agrees to.  That gives you enough time to do the investigation on the property and get a loan processed properly by your lender.

Q: Should I get a home inspection?

The short answer is absolutely!  While buyers often wonder if a home inspection is really necessary, most Realtors worth their salt will say unequivocally yes!  A home inspector takes the weight off your shoulders by investigating everything they can about the home to include the condition of the roof, electricity, heating and air, plumbing.  Making sure everything is in working order prevents you from paying to fix them and gives you negotiating power to get the seller to fix anything that is wrong.  

Q: When can I back out if I change my mind?

While buyers can always back out of a deal, doing so without good reason may forfeit the deposit and, in Louisiana, may require you to pay damages to the seller as a breach of contract.

However, built into the Louisiana contracts are many safeguards for buyers.  You have to almost willfully be negligent in order to lose your deposit.  For example, upon an unsatisfactory home inspection, the buyer can get out of the contract and get their deposit back.  Also, if the home appraises under the selling price and the seller doesn’t want to budge a buyer can also be released from the contract.  So basically that means you can get out if your lender doesn’t think the property is worth what you offered.

Make sure to connect with me and see what sellers frequently ask in an upcoming article.  #ryan_wheeler_expert_realtor  Connect With Me