3 Tips to Get a Head Start on Buying in 2018

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If you’re like so many other people right now, you’re thinking about making a move in 2018. With that in mind, I want to talk about the three things that you must think about if you’re looking to buy a home after the new year.

1. Start interviewing Realtors. This is the perfect time to find somebody you truly connect with. When you’re considering agents, be sure to ask them things like “How many families have you helped in your career? Are you full-time or part-time? What’s your negotiation strategy if I’m buying in a hot seller’s market versus a buyer’s market? What’s your average sales-price-to-list-price ratio?” Asking these questions will weed out the weak agents.

2. Interview mortgage lenders. Get referrals from the Realtor that you selected, from family members, and so on. Go find at least a couple of people that can pre-approve you and can give you a clear picture of the best terms they can offer you. What interest rates can they give you? What requirements will they have? How well do you connect with them—do you trust them? Get that in place because when you hit the ground running in 2018, you’ll want to have a lender picked out already.

3. Don’t open new credit accounts. Keep this in mind especially with the holiday season coming up. The last thing that you want to do is affect your creditworthiness or your debt-to-income ratio when you go buy a home in 2018 after the holidays are over. Try to pay cash for your holiday purchases. You can use credit cards you already have, but understand that you’ll probably want to pay those off, or at least reduce your balance, at the beginning of the year.

These are just three tips I have for making you a successful buyer in 2018. I have lots more, so feel free to reach out to us if you’d like to hear more.

I wish you all happy holidays! We’re so thankful for all of you, and we can’t wait to help you in 2018.