Getting Ready to Buy

Find a Local Mortgage Company

Interview a local mortgage company and request a pre-approval. Keep in mind that banks might offer different alternatives than other lenders. Evaluate the options and settlement costs to determine the best option. Get an estimate of up-front costs and recurring payments. This also helps determine your maximum purchase price.

Select a Real Estate Broker

Find a real estate broker to assist with your property purchase. Choose someone that understands your needs. Experienced agents can help identify properties, prepare contracts, and facilitate a smooth transaction. This expertise can be essential to first time buyers.

During the Purchasing Process

Real Estate Showings

Only consider listings within your budget. This prevents the heartbreak of wanting real estate that you cannot afford. Home viewings can be time consuming, so keeping to your limits will also preserve valuable time.

Agreements

Real estate brokers may offer advice on offers and negotiating them, but they do not practice law. If you require a legal opinion, consider hiring a local real estate attorney to interpret legal jargon and add any desired terms. Do not sign any contracts that you are not fully comfortable with.

Real Estate Inspections

Do not use inspections to renegotiate price or alter purchase terms as they sometimes do not identify any problems at all. Also stay away from negotiating clearly visible issues. Such strategies are not usually successful and lead you to lose the inspection costs. In situations where problems are uncovered, sellers may offer to address defects, give closing concessions, or be unwilling to do anything. Try to be reasonable with your demands and sellers may be more willing to accommodate them.

Final Walk-Thru

Shortly before the closing, you will have the chance to view the property one more time. It is a good idea to schedule this for after the homeowners have removed their belongings. If any issues arise during this visit, you may negotiate them prior to completing the closing.

The Closing

You must have proper ID for the closing. Bring acceptable funds for any amounts due. Have your checkbook ready in case there are any final corrections. Upon closing, the real estate belongs to you!

What Overpricing Your Portsmouth, NH Real Estate Listing Might Cost

Home values are improving, which is welcome news for home sellers. Inclining prices improve home buyer confidence, which results in more buyers and greater competition. This situation commonly causes overpricing, which is a bad idea at any time. Here is what overpricing your Portsmouth, NH real estate listing might cost.

How Home Price Influences Marketing Timeframe

It is well known that list price and marketing time are linked. Overpriced properties sit longer for a few different reasons. First, the higher in price you go, the fewer the buyers. Secondly, overpricing your property makes lower-priced alternatives appear a better deal. So, overpricing essentially assists your competition. Thirdly, potential buyers are more scrutinizing as the price increases. Higher prices must be warranted by substantial upgrades or home buyers will ignore it.

Longer Days on Market Affects Sale Price

Another known fact is that the price for which a home sells will decrease the longer it remains listed. Buyers negatively view houses that are listed for longer than usual. They assume that things must be wrong with the house (and not necessarily that the price was the issue).

Additionally, sellers usually lower the price as time passes. Even if you reduce the price to the proper range, the damage will have already been done. Buyers interested in the property will often submit lower offers than for a newly listed property. In the end, your listing will sell for less because you overpriced.

What Overpricing Your Portsmouth, NH Real Estate Listing Might Cost

What overpricing your Portsmouth, NH real estate listing might cost is both time and money. It is that simple. Even if the market is on an incline and listings are receiving above asking price, it is not a good idea to overprice. It is always critical to begin at the optimal price point. That produces the most interest, improves demand and gets you the highest price. Contact an experienced real estate broker who understands the market and proper pricing approaches to ensure that you do not make the mistake of overpricing.

Portsmouth came in at number 9 this year for Coastal Livings annual "America's Happiest Seaside Towns". Portsmouth has a population of just over 21,000 people and is a major tourist city for the Seacoast. Located at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, people from all over New England and beyond come to visit this Port Town and it's plethora of restaurants, bars, and shops packed into a charming downtown.

Portsmouth is known for its friendly and laid back residents and is also very rich in history. This town offers daily harbor and river cruises, a multitude of theaters and art galleries, an incredible scenic park right on the river, an annual film festival and much, much more. Come get a feel for this iconic town and see what Portsmouth has to offer to people of all ages.

When you are looking at buying a home there are don'ts you should be aware of. Many times the handling of the negotiation can mean the difference in huge amounts of money. This is why it is vital to have an experienced agent on your side. Here are just a few common pitfalls to avoid.

Not doing your homework

Doing your homework is important in such a large purchase. Ask your agent for a list of comparable homes recent sale prices. Look to see how long comparable listings have been on the market and what the average sale to list price ratio is. This will give you the information you need when making an offer and negotiating a final sale price.

Not understanding the seller

Try to look at the deal from the opposite side of the table. A sale is typically emotional for a seller. When making an offer try not to insult the seller, offering a fair and realistic offer to purchase will typically get you further in the negotiations. If you know the seller's motivations for selling you may also be able to offer terms that might be more attractive like a quick close or inspection.

Showing your cards

While you want to know as much about the seller as possible divulge as little about yourself in the negotiation as possible. Any knowledge the seller has about your motivation can be used as leverage in the negotiation.

Getting your heart set

Buying a home can often be an emotional process. Identify several properties you'd be happy with as well. Be careful not to get your heart in the way of your head as it can sometimes hinder the deal.

Trying to win

In a sale there needs to be two ingredients: a seller who wants to sell and a buyer who wants to buy. Try not to getting caught up in the game. Ultimately it is about buying a home and not winning a negotiation.

Low Home Inventory! Do you know what that means?