First Time Real Estate Purchase

Nothing can be more exciting & terrifying at the same time than buying your 1st home. Everyone talks about all the advantages of buying real estate such as the tax benefits, appreciation etc. But there are some risks involved and the more knowledge you have before you start the process the less vulnerable you will be to those risks. Now that you have decided to take the plunge there are some things you can go to make the experience exciting and pleasurable.

One of the 1st things you should do is interview 3 Mortgage Specialists. This accomplishes 3 things, 1st you know in advance how much home you can afford. The worst feeling is to go out looking, find your dream home and then realize you cannot afford it. After that it will be really frustrating trying to find another home. Knowing what your price range is before you start looking assures that when you do find a home you will be able to afford it. 2nd, once you decide to put in an offer, being "Pre-Approved" puts you in a stronger bargaining position, especially it you happen to be in a multiple offer situation. 3nd you will have a relationship established with a mortgage broker. This will move things along much more efficiently once you have found your home.

Now that you have been "Pre- Approved" it is time to start the Search for your dream Home. 95% of people turn to the Internet to start that search. There are many options but realtor.com is probably the most popular. This tool can help you get to know the real estate market in the area you want to live. Check out the average home prices for the size of home you are looking to purchase in any given area. Real Estate prices can really fluctuate greatly even in the same city.

Once you have found a few homes that interest you, it is time to call a real estate agent. Having a buyer's agent costs you nothing, the seller pays all the fees. So take advantage of all the benefits they have to offer. Here is a sample:

• Evaluate the specific needs and wants of the buyer and locate properties that fit those specifications.

• Assist the buyer in determining the amount that they can afford (pre-qualify) and show properties in that price range and locale the consumer has determined.

• Assist in viewing properties and either accompany the client on the showings or preview the properties on behalf of the client to insure that the identified specifications are met.

• Research the selected properties to identify any problems or issues to help the consumer in making an informed decision prior to making an appropriate offer on the property.

• Advise the client on structuring an appropriate offer to purchase the selected property.

• Present the offer to the sellers agent and seller on the clients behalf.

• Negotiate on behalf of the buyer client to help obtain the identified property. Keep in mind that the buyer agent will be doing so with their clients best interests in mind.

• Review and explain all legal documents to their buyer client.

• Recommendations and assistance in securing appropriate financing for the selected property. • Provide a list of potential qualified vendors e.g. movers, attorneys, carpenters if these services are needed by the consumer.

Now that you are ready to buy, you will begin the negotiating process. The seller wants the most money and the buyer wants to pay the least amount. This is where the expertise of your real estate agent comes in. Usually the seller gives a little and the buyer gives a little.

Knowledge is power when it comes to purchasing real estate, so educate yourself and the whole process will be exciting & pleasurable!

http://www.getanewhome.net/

Other articles by this author »
About Christine Hancock

Christine Hancock began her real estate career proving herself a top producer on a new high rise development. This experience gave her valuable knowledge of construction as well as the buying process and resulted in 4-million dollars in sales during her first year. Her specialty is working ith 1st time home buyers.

chris@getanewhome.net


And here is another random article you might be interested in...

International Support - Microsoft Great Plains VAR/Partner Selection – overview for V.P. IT

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. It seems to be goof solution for mid-size and even large multinational corporation with Headquarters in US and branches Worldwide. You, as V.P. IT can deploy the strategy, when you host your Great Plains in headquarter and have international offices connect via remote support. Or, you can have regional offices work of their own Great Plains installations and then consolidate information via FRx or other reporting tools

The challenging thing here is to get local Great Plains support for your regional offices. Ideally you should have Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains Partner - who serves your headquarter and has consultants/technicians close to your overseas operations. It is not always possible, due to multiple reasons:

Europe - in Europe Microsoft Business Solutions has Navision and Axapta lines - so you can not find (with some minor exceptions) local European Great Plains VAR - you have to appeal to remote support.

Multicurrency issue - US-based partners do not usually have this expertise. You have to appeal to ones, operated by former immigrants - there are partners present in two countries with balanced operations in both: like US-Brazil, US-Mexico, US-South Africa

Sophisticated consolidation - usually companies, participating in international business have complex ownership structure with vertical and horizontal structures, mostly due to the necessity to get diversified tax legislation advantage, etc. In this case you need the partner who has experience dealing with at least two or three megamarkets (Europe, East Europe, Asia, Latin America, etc.)

Government-regulated chart of accounts issue - France, Russia and the related counties have this complication - so you have to be able to produce proper reporting and be ready to satisfy auditors with your General Ledger workflow.

Remote Support - obviously partner should be excellent in the remote support and be ready to travel to your remote location in the case of emergency

Customization - partners who can handle above issues are kind of tax advisers/ international accountants/ business consultants they may not carry technical expertise in Great Plains that you need - each multinational corporation has its specifics and usually has customization in its ERP system. This technical expertise is somewhat common for US-based regular partners, serving specific business metros. In case of their help - you have endless projects, involving regional partners and your IT group plus probably local consultants in remote locations

Cost Issue - in either case - when you deploy multiple partner or when you appeal to huge international consulting/auditing company the cost is very high

In Alba Spectrum Technologies we offer you reasonably priced international support from our multiple locations in USA and Worldwide with good mix of Accounting, multicurrency, tax and technical expertise. Moreover we specialize in serving small market niche in Europe - branches of US multinational corporations, who have local Great Plains users or installations.

Happy shopping and selecting! if you want us to help you - give us a call 1-866-528-0577 or 1-630-961-5918! help@albaspectrum.com

Other articles by this author »
About Andrew Karasev

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies  USA nationwide and international Great Plains, Microsoft CRM implementation and customization company, based in Chicago, California, Taxes, New York, Florida and having locations in multiple states and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com), he is CMA, CFM, International Business specialist, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.
akarasev@albaspectrum.com