Top Ten Home Buyer Checklist

10. Get your pre-approval from the lender first, before you start looking at properties.
9. Get representation! I am a full service realtor, so I am a buyer’s agent as well as a home seller. I have taken my ABR Classes. That’s what you’re looking for in a Realtor when you’re buying a property.
8. Don’t just shop interest rates, but also pay close attention to the fees they are going to charge you.
7. Check out the neighborhood online and drive through it at different times of the day to get a really good feel for it.
6. Be there for the home inspection and final walk through. That’s important stuff for you the buyer.
5. If you have children, go online and check to see if there are pedifiles living near the house you intend to buy.
4. Use Google Earth to see what’s around the house. Make sure there’s not a dumping ground a mile away or a train track on the other side of the fence.
3. Drive the commute to and from work using the proposed new house as your destination.
2. Get a termite inspection.
1. You should trust your Realtor because that’s who is looking out for you throughout your real estate transaction. Make sure it is someone reputable and trustworthy that has current buyers and sellers shouting her praises (like me!)

"Top 10 Home Buyer Check List" was originally posted as a blog post at Shannon Register, Realtor^® on October 15, 2009.

Shannon Register, Realtor^® named "Best Real Estate Blog in Texas by the Mays Business School Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.

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