Buying Your Home

There are many wonderful websites to look for homes in the Dallas area.  You should use different websites to find your home as some of them carry different properties.  The MLS, or the Multiple Listing Service, usually has more information than the consumer can see so you should ask your REALTOR® if there is anything additional about the property.   Personally, we like to use  Zillow, Trulia, Movoto and then check everything against the MLS.  You can also look at  the website run by the MetroTexas Association of REALTORS®. You should get a personal gateway setup by your REALTOR® as your gateway will have the homes that come on the market in real time as the other websites lag behind the MLS.

It is also a good idea to look at the taxing entity to see what the county has for the assessed property value.  Look at that specific property and the entire street. Dallas County’s’ website is at  www.dallascad.org, Collin County’s is  www.collincad.org and Denton County’s is www.dentoncad.org.

Many individuals need financial assistance when purchasing a home so they usually get a mortgage.  Larger brokerage firms usually tell you that they have “in house” mortgage financing.  We advise you to get rates from an independent mortgage brokers as well as somebody who writes their own loans and then compare costs.

Some of the necessary skills to assist one buying a home is in the area of marketing, communication and negotiation.  Of course these are important, but the use of technology is extremely important and do not under estimate this skill.  You could miss a very important deal if your technology is not current.

It is vitally important when evaluating your purchase you can look at the maintenance costs that will incur over the years as well as the capital expenditures. If you REALTOR®  has these skills he or she can tell you the costs while you are looking at a new property so you will understand if the property is affordable to you.  While purchasing your new home, it is important to be realistic and not purchase something you can not afford.  Also, check out the cost of insuring your home before you buy it.  You should carefully discuss your situation with your REALTOR® as well as the involved financial institution.