Buying a home in Manchester, Glastonbury, and other Hartford County communities? You’ve made the right choice – north-central Connecticut towns consistently rank among the safest and best places to live in the state.
From peaceful suburban communities to bustling urban centers, you’ll find a bit of everything in this corner of the Constitution State.
If this is your first time buying a home, help is available. Whether you’re in need of professional guidance or financing assistance, here is my advice for first-time homebuyers.
- Get ready to buy
Some buyers may take months or years to get ready to buy a home. Preparation includes saving up for a down payment, building or repairing one’s credit score, gathering the necessary financial documents, and other requisites to buying property.
If you’re currently renting, you might have to break your lease, or wait for it to end, before making the move to homeownership.
When getting ready to buy a home, it’s also crucial to assemble a team of experts to guide the transaction. This team includes a real estate agent, and depending on risk level, perhaps a financial advisor and real estate attorney.
Your agent will play a key role in your home purchase – they will protect your interest during negotiations and help you secure the best deal possible.
- Establish motivations for buying
Knowing your reasons for buying a home will help you make informed decisions. While homeownership is a sign of stability for some, others may want to build equity and re-sell the property for a profit when home value goes up. Some buyers are looking for their forever home while others are just looking for a starter home with plans to trade up eventually.
- Secure financing
Whether you’re buying a starter home or a trophy property, securing financing is one of the most important steps to buying real estate. For first-time homebuyers, the State of Connecticut offers various assistance and housing development programs to help you finance your purchase depending on your needs and income level.
High net worth buyers looking to snap up luxury real estate can look into jumbo loans that exceed conventional loan limits. They can also make a cash offer to get an edge over other bidders for the home.
Paying cash has its pros and cons – your financial advisor can help you decide whether this is the best move for you.
- Find a property
Now that you’ve secured financing, you can start looking at homes in your preferred neighborhood. Knowing how much you can afford will help narrow down your choices and make the home search much easier.
Manchester, Glastonbury, and other communities in Hartford County, CT offer a wide range of single-family homes, townhomes, and condos at various price points. Your agent will also give you access to exclusive listings in the area.
- View properties
Once you find a property you like, you can view the property via open house, private viewing, or virtual tour. Virtual tours, in particular, have gone up in popularity in recent times as they offer a convenient and socially distant way of viewing properties. In any case, viewing the property will help you decide whether or not it is the right one for you.
- Visit the neighborhood
As a buyer, you’re not just moving into a new home – you’re moving into the neighborhood, so it is important to learn what you can about the area that the property is located in.
You don’t to do a full tour of the neighborhood. If you’re pressed for time, doing a quick drive by will help you get a feel for the community and get an impression of how much traffic it gets on a given day.
Learn about future developments and construction work that might affect your decision to buy, and do research on the school district if you have school-aged children.
- Make a strong offer
Once you do find your dream home, don’t let it slip away – craft a strong offer that the seller can’t resist. Your agent will help you come up with the best strategy.
As a general rule, your first offer should be your best offer, though it is also common practice for agents to offer slightly below asking price in hopes of getting a counter-offer from the seller.
Each strategy has its pros and cons and will depend ultimately on market conditions, seller motivations, and other factors.
- Negotiate
Real estate transactions are rarely quick and straightforward – in most cases, the buyer and seller will go back-and-forth as they try to negotiate the terms of the sale. Stay the course. Your agent will help you achieve a desirable outcome and prevent delays in the process.
Ready to become a homeowner? The Danais Gordon Realty Group would like to be your real estate partner in this exciting journey. You can contact us, Kathy Danais, at 860.214.1295 and 860.214.1295 and KathyDanais(at)gmail(dotted)com, Lisa Gordon, at 860.805.7722 and LGordonRealtor(at)gmail(dotted)com. We have over 15 years of experience in Connecticut real estate – and we value relationships with clients above all else.