Important Tips When Shopping For Your New Home:

• Consider the condition of the house. Is it in need of any repairs? For peace of mind, have the property inspected by a home inspector of your choice.
• Consider the condition of the neighboring houses/yards. Are there neighbourhood cleaning plans?
  
• Take a tour of the neighborhood and also drive by the property during various times of the day so that you will have a better feel for the area.
• Location, location, location. Is the house near schools, shopping centers, parks and other areas that you will frequent?
• Will there be any major changes to the neighborhood in the future such as roads/highways, housing/apartment complexes?
  
• While viewing the property, make a mental note of any external sources of noise such as excessive barking dogs, industrial noise, traffic, etc.

What Not To Do Before Buying A Home (When seeking a mortgage loan) :

• Don't change jobs: Changing jobs can have disasterous results for some homebuyers, while for others, this move won't affect their chances of qualifying for a loan, especially if their income will increase.
• Don't move money around between accounts or change banks: This includes checking, savings, stocks, mutual funds, money market funds, certificates of deposit and retirement accounts. If there are any large transfers, your lender may require you to provide them with a paper trail of all transactions.

When To Delay Buying A Home:

• If you're new to the area, it may be a good idea to delay purchasing a home until you are more familir with the surroundings. When a home purchase is made immediately, most people discover they might have made a better decision if they had waited a few months.
• If your job future is uncertain, it may be best to wait to buy a home. If you have recently received a  job promotion or transfer, or your current employer is "restructuring", it's best to wait until you get a more accurate picture of your financial future.
• If you are experiencing marital problems it's best to forego buying a home for the time being. Quite frequently, it's thought that the purchase of a home might help resolve some of the problems, but if the home should need to be sold before it appreciates, it can create an additional burden during an already difficult time.

Review Your Credit History: (When seeking a mortgage loan)
Since most people will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, make sure your credit history is in tip-top shape. A few months before you begin looking for your new home, obtain copies of your credit history. Review the reports to make sure the data is correct and fix any discrepancies before you apply for a loan.

Research The Sales Trend In The Neighborhood :
Before you make an opening bid, you should consider sales of homes in the area during the past few months. If neighboring homes have sold for 5% less than the asking price, your bid should be between 8% and 10% lower than the asking price.

Why School Districts Matter:
When looking for your new home, it's wise to consider the school district even if you don't have school-age children. Why? Because if you should ever decide to resell your home, a quality school district is a top priority for most home buyers, which will boost your property value.


Get A Home Valuer
Before you purchase a home, your lender will require a home appraisal to determine if the house is worth the price. In addition, you should separately hire your own home valuer with experience in performing home surveys in the area you are buying. This could save you costly repairs and headaches down the road.

Documents and Proof of ownership:
*Make sure you involve someone working in the line of legal services, like a lawyer, and make sure that all the documents are confirmed, deal with a reputable estate agent, if you are wary about an estate agent, you can join our *forums* and ask about the credibility of such estate agent and find out if he and his office truly exist,who he has worked for and testimonials about transactions he has succesfully completed. Always ask questions, you can never ask too many questions in the home buying process as there are a lot of dubious and unscrupulous people who are out to swindle innocent people for their hard earned money.


You might want to check our Buyers guide for more information

NB: Inspecting the property yourself does NOT avoid the need for a professional survey, www.propertiesng.com does not guarantee the information in the guides provided on this website, so please seek professional advice, our aim on the website is to give you a brief understanding of the buying process and what to look out for. You can also check out our Forums and Ask a Question sections, where you can ask questions about any real estate agent and be sure of its existence and credibilty.


Please note, that guides and advices have been culled from various sources and are subject to change, www.propertiesng.com is not liable for the information you get from this website as it is subject to verification from a professional. Be aware of scams, there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who pose to be Estate Agents, but are just out to swindle innocent people of their hard earned money, kindly deal with someone that offers legal services and advice like a lawyer when dealing with any Estate Agent.