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Making a mistake in selling a home can cost
you hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost profit. Often home
sellers make the same mistakes over and over. Avoiding these
mistakes is easy and takes little time and effort on your part.
Take the time with your home sale and follow the guidelines in
this report.

Go over the inspection report with a fine
tooth comb. Make sure the report was done by a professional
organization. For condo purchases go over the By-Laws and
Association Fees. Don’t take anything for granted... inspect
everything!

Your furnishings and decorations will be the ones filling
this new residence. Don’t be swayed by beautiful furniture;
it leaves with the owner.

Sit down with your professional real estate agent and
honestly discuss your income level and living expenses. Take
into account future considerations, children, add-ons,
amenities, and fix-ups. Your dream home is certainly worth a
sacrifice but don’t mortgage your entire future.

See at least 7-10 properties. Don’t move too slow but don’t
move on the first property you see. With your agent’s help
you should be able to view enough properties to get a good
overall perspective of the home market. When you find the
right property all the leg work will be worth it.

By aligning yourself with the right real estate professional
you will have an entire team at your disposal. Utilize your
lender, title rep and agent. Each of them should work hand
in hand for your benefit. Explore all the options before you
sign.
Check out all costs and expenses before you sign. Utilities,
taxes, insurance, maintenance and home owner dues if
applicable. Make sure all utilities (gas, electricity, and
water) are on during your walk-through so you can inspect
everything in working order. Ask lots of questions and be
very detail conscious.

Visit the property after all furnishings have been moved out
to be sure there are no surprises. Be absolutely positive
the property was left exactly as you had agreed upon in the
contract. Things that could have been spotted in a final
walk-through are often unintentionally overlooked.

Closing dates are not written in stone. Allow for
contingencies and have a back-up plan. If you or the sellers
need a little more time to conclude the final arrangements,
don’t let these delays upset or frustrate you. These types
of circumstances are not uncommon in a real estate
transaction.

All promises and discussions should be in writing. Don’t
make any assumptions or believe any assurances. Even the
best intentions can be misinterpreted. Have your
professional keep an ongoing log in writing of all
discussions and get the seller’s written approval on all
agreements.

Before house hunting, make a list of things you want in the
new place. Then make a list of the things you don't want.
You can use this list as a guide to rate each property that
you see. The one with the biggest score wins! This helps
avoid confusion and keeps things in perspective when you're
comparing dozens of homes.

When house hunting, keep in mind the difference between
''STYLE AND SUBSTANCE''. The SUBSTANCE are things that
cannot be changed such as the location, view, size of lot,
noise in the area, school district, and floor plan. The
STYLE represents easily changed surface finishes like
carpet, wallpaper, color, and window coverings. Buy the
house with good SUBSTANCE, because the STYLE can always be
changed to match your tastes. I always recommend that you
imagine each house as if it were vacant.

Ads are sometimes created to make the phone ring! Many of
the homes have some drawback that's not mentioned in the ad,
such as traffic noise, power lines, or litigation in the
community. What's not mentioned in the ad is usually more
important than what is.

Be very careful when reading ads. Remember that the person
writing the ad is representing the seller and not you! The
most important thing you can do is have someone on your side
looking out for your best interests. Asian Homes® Realty
Services will critique the property with an eye towards how
well it meets your needs and will point out any drawbacks
you should know about. So whether you decide to work with
Asian Homes® Realty Services or not, pick an agent you feel
comfortable with and enlist the services of that agent as a
buyer's broker.
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