I’ve been giving thought to what might be most helpful to readers as far as a progression of posts, and have received some feedback. Here’s what I’m thinking…
You have to buy a house before you need to think about selling it, so I’m going to start with a series of posts focusing on the buying process.
The picture above is a map depicting the locations of homes I’ve helped clients find and purchase. I love helping people find the perfect home!
The posts I’m planning will go from the front end of the process to “post” closing. I plan to hit topics like:
- What are the different forms of financing and “pre-qualification”, and why it’s important to get your strongest position in place before your search begins.
- Do you use a realtor, and if so how do you choose one and when do you engage them? I’ll include what questions to ask prospective realtors, what’s reasonable in a contract, and what you should expect from a good buyer’s agent.
- How to research areas, home features and get a good feel for pricing using the tools that are out there today.
- How to determine what the “requirements” are for your target home and area.
- How to come up with a plan and schedule for your search, including contingencies for where you stay while the search is ongoing.
- Tools and techniques for estimating renovation and repair costs, including a list of local renovations and repairs with local cost information that I’ve seen.
- Tips for making an appealing offer that doesn’t necessarily need to be highest price.
- Tips for how to structure your supporting team and process for success throughout the different inspections, reviews and purchasing milestones.
- Tips for decorating and updating before and after you move in.
- How do you select a good contractor for renovations and / or repairs, and how do you structure a contract and payment terms?
If you have any ideas for what additional topics in this series, or ideas for things you’d like to see inside a given topic – please reach out to me.
After this series, I’ll switch to the selling side and put out a post similar to this ahead of it, with projected topics.
I also intend to hit miscellaneous topics at random intervals, so if you have any ideas on what you’d like to see for that, let me know. I’ve already has a request to do a mini-series on staging, which I’m starting to plan.