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As a rule, buying house can be a frightening and depressive experience. Before you start you should have a clear mind and consider creating a checklist of very important things in the process of buying property.

Before putchasing or even searching property, analyze the market carefully. Bear in mind that you are special and you have your own ideas and preferences.

At first, don’t hurry! Ask yourself what type of home you want. What conveniences would you like to have? If you are planning to expand your family in the closest future, find out the nearest schools, shops, stadiums. If you are married with children already, you should find out about the crime situation in the region.

Secondly, think where you prefer living – in the city center or in the countryside. Visit some variants and compare your emotions and feelings.

Then, examine how long the property has been listed. If the property has been on the market only for a few months, the seller is not likely to reduce the price. But if the home has been on sale for long already, he can become compliant.

Also you have to examine if the home has been in escrow and why it has happened. Who is guilty in that – a buyer or a seller? Maybe the buyer has found some problems with the property?

Then, examine the home attentively. As a rule, the seller brushes up the house for sale by owner. But if you notice some alerting signs, you’d better get a home inspection to avoid such unpleasant things in future as rust, a leaking pipes or mould.

Moreover, when you ask the seller about the price of the property, don’t forget to ask if there are any additional charges or fees you will need to pay. In some areas property taxes are so high that buyers are really surprised in future when it is time to pay them.

Don’t overlook the question about easement and zoning. You’d better get to know if there are rights for easements on the land you are looking at. Otherwise, it may bring some annoying moments in future as an easement allows someone else to construct buildings on the territory of your land.

One more question you should always ask about is the level of noise in the area. A good idea is to drive around the area on working days and at the weekend. Look at the houses nearby, talk to the people who live in this area, find their opinion about the area. Rumors can be valuable sometimes.

The question you have to revise seriously is the distance from the property to your job. You will not like to drive three hours to work every day. If you drive a car, that’s excellent but look through the transport traffic in the area? Are there any railway stations in the area?

Of course, there are a lot of other issues you can and should know (about the city climate, the relations with neighbors, etc). Before making the final decision, find out the answers to all that questions.

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The reasons for moving or finding a new place for living in another place can be different: you have been offered a new job, or you have got family, or you have decided (at last!) to abandon your parents’ house.

The reasons can be numerous. But what is definite: you have to consider the location for your future house. There are states, in the states there are cities or towns, in cities and towns there are neighborhoods and so on and so forth. Then go streets, neighbor houses, etc. What are the main ideas how to make the right decision and find out the best (at least, not the worst) place for your future home. What points and issues should be taken into account?

There are several variants to start with: firstly, you should visit homes or ask around. Secondly, you can explore the Internet and different FSBO sites. Thirdly, you may look through MLS checklists. And, finally, you can turn to a real estate agent or broker, who will definitely find you what you want (of course, the money will be pretty large).

Well, if you have made up your mind about the state and the city (or town), you have to find the answers to the following questions and find as much as information as possible about the following things:
1. How comfortable is the location of your home? It’s always a good idea to find the distance to the closest grocery’s, markets, department stores.

If you have children, you should think ahead about the closest kindergartens and schools as well as sports facilities. Of course, you are not going to stay at home all the time, that’s why places of interest (cinemas, theaters, clubs) should also be nearby. If you have to travel on business trips a lot, the location of airports, bus or train stations are also important.

2. What is the attractiveness of the place from the point of view of logistics? Nobody wants to live in the place where the criminals flourish. So before considering relocation, think over the criminal situation of the city. It is commonly known that some towns are very expensive for living with high property tax rates.

It is a good idea to check beforehand. If you want to live in quite surrounding, you should estimate how far the nearing houses are.

How comfortable the place is? When you are going to relocate, think about the level of noise in the place at different times of the day. You have to realize that if you live in the suburbs, you’ll have to deal with the local community.

Are they friendly? What are their traditions (playing chess on Sunday morning)?
Of course, the final crucial factor for choosing this or that property will be your own intuition as well as the first impression from the house. But, don’t be too relaxed! Feelings may mislead you. Ask the above mentioned questions before taking the final decision.

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Some people consider that they can sell a house in no time just by listing their home with a real estate officer. The idea is pretty good if you have a lot of other things to do except selling a house.
But first of all, think about the agent’s reward. In most states, if your property is worth USD400,000, you’ll have to pay about $24,000 to the agent for his services. You could save this amount for yourself.
But selling your house is no longer an easy task.

The number of houses listed on the market by real estate agents is all-time high. E.g. in New Jersey about 32,000 houses were on the market at the end of spring. The number of properties sold in September 2009 in general is also dropped significantly from 3,500 in 2008 to 1,700 in 2009 for the same period (September).

The recent numbers show that selling property by real estate agents is not going to bring instant effect any more. Foreclosures have appeared throughout the country and now every state has a long list of foreclosed houses.

If you sell your home by owner, you have more odds to sell it out faster. In most markets for sale by owner properties are sold two times faster than those listed for sale by real estate agents.

If you are in need to sell your house quicker or you want to manage your mortgage payments properly, your agent is not going to pay your dues and he will not buy your property if it isn’t selling.

There are some useful tips for those who want to get out of the burden of your for sale by owner home (it is impossible to do them while selling with your agent):

- Lease out your house to a tenant and sell the home at the end of the lease period.
- Try to sell your property via owner financing (e.g., through an agreement for deed or a land contract).
- Pay the buyer the real estate commission in order to assist him in qualifying.
- Purchase down the interest rate.

Those ideas can help you to get out quick. At modern unstable times it is better to look for some ways of paying off the mortgage payments (little by little) than to allow your home to stay on the market for ages and to take off all your savings.

These tips are not for the wealthy investors with huge amount of money and lots of options in case their house isn’t sold. This information may be useful for those who need some relief from their mortgage payoffs, double payoffs, job changing or divorce. Maybe it appears to be better to sell house by owner and have complete control on the process.

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It makes no difference if your family budget is huge or little, you can always find some ideas to add value to your property for sale. The reasons for improving can be different: to increase your house’s efficiency, to improve the general appearance or to hide some drawbacks.

Roofwork
If you are ready or would like to sell your house any time in the nearest future, you should consider the state of your roof. It is a very expensive item in your expense list (from $ 12,000 to $16,000). But, as you may oversee while selling, the first thing real estate agents, buyers and inspectors look at and examine is the roof. Often buyers don’t even consider a house seriously if they believe that in a year or two they will need to repair it.

If your roof is not a new one but still in a good state, you’d better apply for a roof certification. It will cost you about $300 but you’ll get a two-year guarantee from a roofer. If something happens to your roof (e.g. it starts leaking), the roofer will carry out all the necessary repairs. It will be free of charge.

Energy Efficiency
Even if you don’t think about selling your property now but it is time to replace your household appliances, think about installing energy-efficientsaving devices. It will be a great sales argument for tenants and potential buyers. Don’t worry about high prices for such devices, they will pay off very quickly and in the long run you’ll understand that your electricity bills are not problems any more. Moreover, considerable allowances or tax credits are provided in many states for upgrading to energy efficient or green appliances. In fact, with installing that kind of equipment in your house, you’ll pay less for being eco-conscious.

Green plantations
You may consider that strange but trees often increase the house’s value because of their eye appeal. Planting trees and bushes near your property’s requires almost no investments. You just have to find special city agencies that supply with free plants. There is no need to buy expensive and exotic flowers or trees. Usual trees popular in your region will be enough. But don’t forget to find out the best place for your trees, otherwise, you may have problems with roots that can damage your property.

General maintenance
General month-to-month maintenance usually costs very little but it seems to pay off a lot in the long run. Creaky door handles, torn wallpapers, broken windows, uncut grass are those things that potential buyers pay attention to immediately when they examine your house. Do all general maintenance on time as it will help you save money in future.

There are many other ideas that can increase the value of your house. If you have no ideas, visit several houses for sale by owner in your area (so called ‘open houses’) and ask your neighbors how they have prepared their property for sale. And I believe that this will help sell home by owner to anyone.

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