Buyers Information

Perhaps you have been waiting and watching the real estate market (with apprehension) and observing the home prices climbing steadily upward. You have seen homes placed on the market selling within a short time after being listed. You have also seen buyers engage in a bidding war for a very ordinary house with very little to commend it. Yet some of these same buyers offered the seller even more than the original asking price.

You may have been disturbed by all these happenings, not wanting to purchase a home at inflated prices. Now that the pendulum is swinging in the other direction and home prices are coming down to a more realistic level, this is the time for you to begin the search for your perfect home.

If your plans include buying property in Northwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico – either in a large, sophisticated, bustling city like Pensacola or in a smaller, family-oriented, laid-back town like Pace, Gulf Breeze, Cantonment or Milton – contact our office at pensacolahomestore for a free consultation about the type of house you want to buy. Let us know the number of rooms, the approximate size of the property and the amenities you are seeking. We will search through our Multiple Listing Service (MLS) entries and show you the homes that match your requirements.

We will act as your agent in this transaction and help you arrive at a realistic price to offer to the seller. We will help you decide how much the house is actually worth in today's current market and guide you through the negotiation process.

If you have not already done so, you need to contact your bank and get pre-qualified. The pre-qualification process is simple but important since it signifies the first step in formally applying for a mortgage and provides a clear sense of the direction in which you should be headed. What this term means is that a loan officer has taken a general look at your income and expenses relative to a debt-to-income ratio formula. This does not include an in-depth analysis of your credit report or your actual ability to buy a home.

The next step is the process of pre-approval which lets you know your financial guidelines so that you are aware of how much house you can actually afford. If you are pre-approved for $225,000, this is the maximum limit of the loan for which you will be approved – the amount that the lender feels you will be able to afford but this is not necessarily the amount you want to pay. You must remember that you will probably want money available to make some changes in your new home and possibly buy some new furniture, garden tools, etc. Consequently, you would be wiser to search for homes in the range of $200,000 to $210,000.

When you are pre-approved, the lender will inform you which loan programs you qualify for and will advise you about the interest rates they are prepared to offer for different types of loans. After you are pre-approved, you can shop for a home in your price range with confidence.