To Get the House of Your Dreams, You Have to Know What You Want

The home buying process can be overwhelming — that’s why it’s vital to take some time to reflect on what you want out of a new house before you start seriously searching. If you’re considering buying a new house, there are probably several locational, stylistic, and practical elements that you’re already weighing your options on, and likely some that you haven’t even thought of yet. Putting together a house hunting wishlist is a great way to make sure you’re considering all of the options and prioritizing their importance to you.

Ultimately, thinking about the lifestyle you and those you’re moving with (whether that includes a significant other, family members, pets, or other housemates) want to have in your new home will be invaluable in helping you decide on what to look for across various aspects. Many aspects of your living space have the potential to enhance your current lifestyle in order to focus better, relax more, and enjoy life in your new home.

Here are the elements you should consider when it comes to visualizing your dream home and creating your house hunting wishlist.

What Does or Doesn’t Work in Your Current Home?

On a scale of 1–10, how much do you like your current home? If you rate your home high on this scale, maybe you’re looking for a similarly-styled home with simpler changes like more or less space. If you rate your home lower, you might be looking for options that are more drastically different from your current living situation.

To help you pinpoint areas for improvement, as well as those spaces that are already optimal for your lifestyle, ask yourself a couple of follow-up questions. What are your home’s best and worst qualities? What are your favorite and least favorite rooms and why? Answering questions like these will help you to decide in which areas you already know what you want, so you can direct your attention toward researching options for spaces that you may not know quite what you’re looking for yet.

Where Do You Want to Live?

Most potential home buyers will already know how essential location is to any home search. Do you want to live in a busy area with lots to do, or a little further out with nature elements more prevalent? Are you bothered by noise, activity, or traffic? Do you want to be within walking distance of nearby amenities, shopping areas, or restaurants? All of these considerations of the lifestyle you want will be contributing factors to your location decision.

In perhaps the most integral decision when it comes to location, you’ll need to determine how long of a commute you’re willing to undertake for work. Another important consideration involves browsing good school districts in the area if you currently have or want kids in the near future. All of these factors combined will give you a better idea of where you might want to begin your home search.

What Size of Home Do You Need?

As in any other aspect, thinking about your current lifestyle and how you might like to improve it in a new space is a great angle to approach making size-related decisions for your house hunting wishlist. Do you have the right amount of space currently or are you looking for more or less? What amount of square footage does your current living space have, and what approximate square footage range do you think would better fit your spatial needs?

Depending on how many people will be living with you in the new home, you’ll also have to make the following spatial decisions to best suit everyone’s needs. How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need? Should you look for a single-family home, multi-family home, condo, or townhouse? These are all early-stage questions that will heavily impact the direction of your search.

Which Architectural and Design Styles Do You Like?

Do you like or dislike the style of your current home? If you like your current house’s style, then it’ll be easy to know what you’re looking for. However, if you don’t like the style of your current home, you may need to complete extensive research on other home styles to learn your preferences.

Regardless, it’s smart for every potential home buyer to look up different home styles to see what they like or don’t like. With other more important logistical considerations at play like location, size, and budget, you’ll likely want to give your realtor options for different home styles you may enjoy if a house checks all of the other boxes.

Move-In Ready or Fixer-Upper?

Buying a house with opportunities for adding new finishes, completing renovation projects, or executing updates can help you save money upfront and improve your home’s resale value in the long-run. However, you’ll want to be strategic about these decisions in order to ensure that your lifestyle while in the home is enjoyable and that you don’t end up losing money through unexpected necessary repairs or due to a lack of experience with DIY home renovations. Here are some questions to consider in the decision between seeking a turnkey home or fixer-upper.

How long are you planning to live in this home? How might the housing market change over this time period? Do you have the time, resources, and/or knowledge for extensive renovation projects? Are you okay with making compromises upfront so you can renovate over time and individualize your home? Is there wiggle room in your renovation budget to accommodate unexpected circumstances? This is a great area to have your real estate agent weigh in and help advise you on which issues might arise in older homes, and how much you might be able to handle.

What Do You Want Outside?

This is a pretty self-explanatory consideration area and its essentialness will depend on how much time you or those living with you will want to spend outside. How important is having a nice yard? Do you have dogs or kids that would utilize this area frequently? Do you entertain outdoors often?

Again, constructing this portion of your house hunting wishlist will be greatly helped by weighing your opinions of your current home’s yard. How do you feel about the outside spaces and features of your current home? Is there anything specific missing that you want in this area? Anything you particularly like that you’d like to see recreated in a new home’s outdoor space?

Finalizing Your House Hunting Wishlist

Lastly, you’ll want to prioritize these areas so you know what you’re okay with compromising on, and what is a must-have. It’ll be difficult to find a home that has absolutely everything you may want in a dream home, so differentiating between absolute needs, highly-weighted wants, and lower priority extras will be invaluable information for your realtor in providing you multiple quality options to consider.

Of course, you should also be consulting with your significant other, family members, or any others you may be moving with throughout the creation of your house hunting wishlist in order to make sure your visions are aligned and everyone’s needs are addressed. This will also help you to identify areas where your wants diverge upfront so you’re ready to explore different options throughout your search.

Expert Advice to Help You Make the Best House Hunting Wishlist

A trusted real estate agent can help ease the confusion of your house search and simplify the process of putting together your house hunting wishlist. Serving the North Central Ohio region since the 1930s, CENTURY21 Bolte Real Estate has been helping people find new homes that fulfill their wishes for 80+ years. We’ve collected some of our vast expertise into buyer’s resources that you can browse for more information prior to starting your search.

With agents passionate and knowledgeable about every North Central Ohio community, we can walk you through the entire home buying process to make finding a house that suits your needs painless. Contact us today to find out how CENTURY21 Bolte Real Estate is the partner you need to get the house that you want.

Protect Your Information from Real Estate Wire Fraud in 2021

Consumers need to be particularly vigilant about fraud while completing a real estate transaction, since the handoff of identifiable information and large sums of money may be happening virtually, especially now. Real estate wire fraud is far from new, but many scammers are taking advantage of real estate transactions becoming more reliant on digital communications to trick more homebuyers into sending them money and valuable personal information.

Wire fraud is one of the fastest-growing cybercrimes in the U.S., with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center receiving 467,361 complaints in 2019 (an average of nearly 1,300 per day) and recording more than $3.5 billion in total losses. COVID-19 has exacerbated this with increased online transactions — the number of fraudulent emails and text messages spiked by nearly 700 percent early on during the pandemic.

For a broader list of multiple real estate scams to look out for during the home buying or selling process, check out another one of our blogs. For a deep dive on real estate wire fraud including best practices for avoiding it, read on.

What Is Real Estate Wire Fraud?

Real estate wire fraud most commonly occurs during closing since this is the part of the process when a home buyer expects to exchange money. Many scammers attempt wire fraud by sending home buyers fraudulent information about where to send escrow or other funds.

Victims will receive a fake email, text message, or phone call from a “representative” of their lending or title company containing false information about where to send escrow funds. The communication will often be sent from a phone number or email address that appears correct but is actually one number or letter off. Some scammers will even create spoof websites that look similar to the company you’re working with to sell you on the scam.

If you end up sending the money, the fraudsters will immediately withdraw the funds, scamming you out of the finances you’ve set aside for escrow. Once this happens, your money will be extremely difficult to recover.

How to Protect Your Money

If you receive wiring instructions in a message or email, before you send funds anywhere, make a call directly to your real estate agent, title company, or lender. You can check original documents from your lender and call the phone number on those papers to make sure you’re calling the correct person. It never hurts to double-check instructions when large sums of money are involved.

The Real Estate Fraud Prevention Coalition put together resources containing best practices for digital hygiene to help consumers protect themselves from these types of scams. They suggest that you remain suspicious of any changes to payment information, double-check email addresses on potentially illegitimate emails, ask your bank to confirm the name on an account before sending a wire, and call the title company immediately after wiring to confirm receipt of funds.

How to Protect Your Personal Information

Virtual real estate interactions also have a high risk of identity theft if not handled properly. Scammers may target the capture of personal information like your Social Security number that allows them to open up accounts under your name.

This is usually a longer-term scam than wire fraud. Sophisticated cybercriminals may hack into your accounts and monitor your information for six or more months before acting on it.

Personal information like your full name, birthdate, address, and Social Security number will be shared over time with agents, lenders, and title companies. If a scammer has access to your account, they’ll be able to collect this information as you share it with the professionals you’re working with on the sale. If they hack a real estate professional’s account, they might be able to steal many people’s information before getting caught.

To avoid this, right before you start a real estate transaction is a great time to change passwords and make sure you’re not reusing them in multiple places. Best data hygiene practices also suggest that you add two-factor authentication to important accounts like your email, so anyone trying to access it will need to put in a one-time code received through another communication method before logging in.

Another essential tip is that you should never use public WiFi when accessing or sending personal information. You should also check with your real estate agent on best practices for sharing your information securely, and ask them what they are doing on their end for data protection.

Through the entire home buying or selling process, pay attention to your accounts. If there is any suspicious activity, call your bank and freeze all methods of withdrawing funds immediately to lessen the damage. You can even invest in identity theft protection for an added layer of security. Ultimately, the cost of additional protection will be well worth it if your information and hard-earned money are safe.

For Sale by Owner Homes Are at High Risk for Scams

For Sale by Owner (FSBO) homes are at especially high risk for buyer fraud, because the homeowners who are selling don’t have experience with spotting and avoiding scams. They likely won’t have standardized procedures in place for screening potential home buyers like real estate experts would.

Scammers on the buying side may target FSBO properties because they’ll likely be easier to hack and less likely to notice a data breach than real estate professionals. Some fraudsters may pretend to be a qualified buyer and try to get the owners to go under contract with them, which may ultimately land the homeowners in a long legal battle. This is something to consider when deciding whether to enlist the help of a realtor in selling your home.

Avoid Real Estate Wire Fraud with the Right Agent

Working closely with a trusted real estate agent is the most essential part of ensuring your real estate transactions are safe. We’ve developed and adopted best practices for screening and data hygiene in our more than 80 years of experience in the real estate industry in North Central Ohio. We know how to spot scams and protect our clients’ information and hard-earned money. Whether you’re buying or selling in North Central Ohio, CENTURY21 Bolte Real Estate is a partner you can depend on.

In the real estate industry, we used to see much more definitive home buying and selling seasons with larger differences between the hottest selling season in the summer and the cooldown period in the fall. A decrease in these differences is partially attributable to the rise of virtual real estate, which offers homebuyers more options for completing research on their own time and in the comfort of their own home, potentially even from across the country.

Virtual real estate practices have been steadily growing throughout the years as other aspects of our lives and buying habits have increasingly moved online, offering buyers more resources to buy year-round and from out of town. The quality of online listings and options for virtual touring has become more important as homebuyers have shifted to doing their initial research online, which has slowly but surely started to chip away at the difference in selling seasons as homebuying information has become more widely accessible.

However, virtual real estate has skyrocketed this year to cope with the pandemic while buyer demand remains unusually high even as we get into the cooler months. According to Realtor.com, this is the first time in history that homes sold more quickly in October than September and buyers continue to pay summer prices for homes into the fall. Much of this continuing demand is probably attributable to the homebuying backup from shutdowns due to COVID-19 earlier in the year.

As people spend more time at home, there is added weight and urgency to homebuying decisions. Remote working and home office spaces (as well as just having enough overall space) have also become an important consideration, as many families juggle working from home while having kids who are potentially learning from home. It’s essential during this time that buyers are able to still have authentic experiences that are as close to in-person meetings, touring, and buying as possible, with their personal challenges and needs being addressed.

Many real estate buying and selling practices have become more virtual during the pandemic in order to meet buyer demand while also promoting social distancing practices. Here are some of the changes that have made the largest impact on the real estate industry, many of which are likely to continue even after the pandemic ends as buyers get used to their convenience and enjoy having multiple options to make the home buying experience more customizable.

Online Marketing is Essential

A move to more online buying methods has meant it’s more important than ever to market listings properly through online channels — including well-photographed up-to-date website listings with ample information and specs, social media promotion, and online content that directs traffic back to listings.

Photos for online listings need to be high-quality and taken from multiple different angles to give buyers a sense of what being in the home is really like since buyers are less likely to tour as many homes early in the buying process as they might have before the pandemic. This is one of the challenges of for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) homes since real estate agents have more resources and experience for obtaining high-quality marketing materials and better access to online homebuyers.

Social media platforms are also being leveraged by many real estate agencies to provide updates on COVID-19 practices and the state of the real estate market as they change, promote any in-person events like open houses that are still happening, and drive traffic back to their website. Social media is also a great marketing channel for promoting individual listings or groups of listings in specific communities to attract current homebuyers.

Other digital marketing channels like blogs and emails have also become more essential to reaching potential clients. Providing both buyers and sellers with helpful information and advice makes the research phase of their process, which has moved mostly online at this point, more seamless. The importance of social media and additional online content for connecting with home sellers and buyers has grown immensely during the pandemic as people search for additional connection and support, especially in a decision as important as buying or selling a home.

Virtual Tours for Maximum Protection

In-person open houses are still available in certain states but with more safety protocols in place like wearing masks, social distancing, and occupancy limits. Many real estate agents are also offering more private one-on-one tours of homes to adapt their selling practices during COVID-19. During this time, real estate agencies have had to become more creative in their solutions for providing potential buyers access to homes on the market through multiple options that suit their needs and protect agents, buyers, and communities.

Virtual tours have also increased dramatically to ensure safety during the pandemic. 3D tour technology has become more advanced and widespread, allowing virtual renderings where potential buyers can “move through” a home on their own time to become available online. Pre-filmed videos of agents showing homes have also increased in popularity, as have online scheduling platforms for one-on-one live virtual tours. Video and photo quality has become increasingly important to these practices, in order to make the home buying process still feel as in-person and authentic as possible while matching potential home buyers’ comfort levels and keeping everyone involved safe.

Buyers’ Willingness to Buy Remotely

Buyers are more open to remote buying sight unseen now with the real estate industry placing emphasis on providing more online resources for options like virtual touring. In fact, Redfin reports that 33 percent of people bought a home in the last year sight-unseen, up 19 percent from last year.

All of the virtual changes we’ve discussed have made it much easier for buyers to purchase a home in Ohio from anywhere else in the country or beyond. Buyers’ comfortability in purchasing houses sight unseen — or sometimes without even meeting their real estate agent in person — comes both out of necessity due to the current restrictions in place and as a result of homebuyers having additional resources and options for researching and buying online.

CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate Can Help You Buy or Sell a Home Virtually

If you’re looking to sell your home, with the continued high buyer demand and low inventory, now is a great time to get started by partnering with a real estate agent that can get your home marketed properly and assist with virtual selling needs.

If you’re searching for a home in North Central Ohio, browse our listings online or reach out to one of our agents today. We can help you find the home of your dreams using the safe and comfortable home research and buying methods that are right for you.

Return to Nature with the Lake Erie Lifestyle

Lake Erie homes are beautiful this time of year with the changing season, and the houses on popular Put-in-Bay Island are no exception. Featuring breathtaking sunsets and views and beautiful foliage, our Put-in-Bay homes for sale are the perfect places to immerse yourself in nature while remaining close to the island’s many amenities.

Lake Erie island living offers many chances to get outside safely during this time, with nearby access to hiking trails, nature reserves, and a state park. That’s why living in Put-in-Bay provides a low-stress lifestyle and high quality of life. As an added bonus, many of our Put-in-Bay homes for sale include enough space to work from home.

Here are a few homes for sale in Put-in-Bay that are available now.

Current Put-In-Bay Homes for Sale

1. 509 Langram Road #1-21

1 Bed, 1 Bath, 528 Sq. Ft. | $199,000

This fully furnished one-bedroom, one-bathroom Banyan Cove condo was newly built in 2016. It features high-end finishes and conveniences, including stainless steel appliances and an in-unit washer and dryer. A balcony with two access points from the living room and bedroom gives you the perfect opportunity to relax outside.

The condo also has a sleeper sofa, which allows you to accommodate any overnight guests. Condo owners have access to additional amenities, including a shared outdoor space with a pavilion, lawn chairs, and grills. These condos are in a convenient location — only a five minute walk away from most of Put-in-Bay’s shops and restaurants, providing the perfect balance between island relaxation and the excitement of downtown.

2. 281 Meechen Road

4 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,514 Sq. Ft. | $285,000

Located close to the State Park Beach and Saunders Golf Course, this open concept four-bedroom, two-bathroom home offers the best in price and opportunity on the islands. The full acre of land on this property features a large back deck and firepit, perfect for getting outside while still staying cozy on chilly autumn nights.

3. 529 Langram Road #1-6

2 Beds, 1 Bath, 968 Sq. Ft. | $309,000

This beautiful two-bedroom, one-bathroom Banyan Cove lower-level corner condo features updated finishes like new stainless steel appliances and custom white porcelain flooring. It has two porches for chances to get outside during your morning cup of coffee, throughout the day working from home, or evening relaxation. This condo is currently vacant, so you can make it feel personal by fully customizing it with your individual taste in furniture and decor.

Additional outdoor space and seating is available to condo owners in Banyan Cove, complete with grills for outdoor cooking. Banyan Cove is also just a short walk away from town for when you want to get out of the house.

4. 649 Catawba Avenue

6 Beds, 2 Baths, 2,900 Sq. Ft. | $495,000

This large family home is meant for year-round living. It’s located in a prime spot just a short walk away from the school, churches, pools, island attractions, and local restaurants. The property includes just over a half-acre of land and two shaded porches coming off of the house, providing ample space for entertaining and relaxing outdoors.

Built in 1875, this home has abundant living space, making it ideal for entertaining. The spacious kitchen gives you plenty of storage and counter space for when you’re hosting family and friends for meals. There is also a gravel driveway behind the house for private parking.

This timeless home and its charming features have been well-maintained over the years, making it the perfect place to spend quality time and capture moments with family and friends for years to come!

5. 1350 Put-in-Bay Road

4 Beds, 2 Baths, 2,024 Sq. Ft. | $698,000

This large property provides an exciting investment opportunity with two currently permitted long-term rental apartments located in the barn building on-site. The unique four-bedroom, two-bathroom Cedar Lodge main home features spacious bedrooms and abundant living space.

The private location of this property offers the tranquility of woodland living, while still being conveniently close to the ferry and airport. It is also within walking distance of the local nature center and a short walk away from the South Bass Island State Park where you can enjoy an afternoon in nature or an evening sunset.

Among the well maintained outdoor areas, you’ll find a deck, a fire pit with seating, shed storage, and even a chicken coop. This property provides you with several opportunities to spend time outside, either on-site, or at local nature destinations.

Find Other Put-in-Bay Homes for Sale

If none of these homes satisfy your search, you can browse more Put-In-Bay homes for sale on our Lake Erie Islands listings page. Don’t forget to also sign up for email updates from us so you’ll never miss out on opportunities and always know the latest options available. Just tell us what you’re interested in, and we’ll send you the details as new listings are added.

If you are considering one of the Put-in-Bay homes for sale in this post, please complete the form for that property or contact its listing agent. We will reach out right away to give you more information or schedule a showing.

If you’re just starting your Put-In-Bay house search, reach out to a C21 Bolte Real Estate agent today. We will help you find the Lake Erie island home of your dreams!

If you’ve been looking to buy a house in 2020, you may already know how difficult it’s been to navigate a changing landscape affected and altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pre-existing low housing inventory that predated the virus.

However, after a spring season handcuffed by the nationwide emergence of the coronavirus, many indicators show the housing market bouncing back. Realtor.com, in its recent Housing Market Recovery Index update, issued a 105.6 recovery rating for the week ending on August 8. It’s a mark that registered 5.6 points higher than the baseline established before the emergence of COVID-19.

The virus has also caused many to re-examine their living space, said CENTURY 21 President and CEO Mike Miedler. The coronavirus has changed the way many people live and might affect where they live as well.

“It’s now where you’re schooling your kids and working from. And it’s now your home gym — it’s everything to you,” Meidler told Fortune. 

With that increased demand for other options, coupled with 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage rates hitting record lows during both the first two weeks of August, many are expecting a rush into the market that is already underway.

But with low housing inventory remaining an issue — Realtor.com estimated housing inventory has dropped 29 percent from a year ago at this time — getting the house you want means finding ways to edge out other prospective buyers. And the clock is ticking, too.

In North Central Ohio — Erie, Huron, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Seneca counties — the average number of days on market for a CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate listing was only four days, and our average list/sale price ratio was 97.5%. This means that nearly all of our listings sold quickly and at or very close to the listing price.

What to Do When Facing Low Housing Inventory

It can be daunting when wading through a competitive buying market at a time when you’re eager to move to a new property. But there are ways to prepare that will give you flexibility and adaptability when you finally find a housing target.

Secure Financing at the Start

First, it’s important to get your financing fully prepared upfront. For home buyers, you’ve probably already heard that you should pre-qualify or be pre-approved for a mortgage. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are important differences every homebuyer should understand.

Pre-qualifying is the first step. When you prequalify for a home loan you are getting an estimate on what you might be able to borrow based on the information you provide about your finances.

But pre-approval is as close as you can get to confirming your creditworthiness without having a contract in place. You will complete a mortgage application and the lender will verify the information. If you’re preapproved, you’ll receive a preapproval letter which is an offer to lend you a specific amount that is good for 90 days.

Preapproval can be valuable when it comes time to make an offer on a house, particularly in competitive markets with low housing inventory. It will allow you to stand out among other buyers, and the seller will more likely consider your offer because your finances have been verified. Sellers will know you’re a serious buyer and will give your offer more distinction.

Get Listing Alerts

With competition high, you’ll want to have the latest information available when new listings hit the market, or when current listings are updated. Searching on your own can take a lot of time, but many agents now offer property listing services that can be delivered right to any of your devices at any time of day and as often as you need. 

CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate can take care of the hassle of checking for new listings across North Central Ohio. With CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate’s email listing alerts, you can get fast, free and easy updates about your preferred property searches. You won’t waste time re-entering the same details over and over, you can get the updates as often as you like, and you’ll be among the first to know when a new property becomes available.

Stay Local

Developing a relationship with a trusted local agent is another way to help your search during these times of low housing inventory. Having a local agent who knows your market will help you save both time and money.

With a locally-based agent, you’ll have an advocate who can help negotiate when a bidding war breaks out. You’ll want someone familiar with the area who can tell you the second a home that fits your chosen criteria hits the market. A local agent will give you access to pounce on new listings and schedule tours quickly.

It’s a personal and detailed touch that you can’t find with an online service or a national-in-scope brokerage. In North Central Ohio, CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate is vested heavily in the area. Established in 1936, we have developed a vast network of local resources and contacts to help serve our clients.

Be Decisive

By securing your financing upfront, developing connections in your desired market with a trusted agent, and plugging in with direct listing alerts, buyers will be prepared to move quickly when the time arises. 

Due to the low housing inventory in North Central Ohio and across the country, buyers will also need to trust that preparation and act decisively. Listings are currently going under contract soon after they’re released, and swift decisions are needed when making an offer on a house that prospective buyers are interested in. 

We’re Here to Help

CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate is well equipped to assist you now, despite the challenges of the current environment. We have been buying and selling homes across North Central Ohio for more than 80 years and are the largest brokerage in the region. 

Our team of experienced agents live and work here, and we’ll be by your side every step of the way to ensure you’re completely satisfied with your buying or selling experience. Contact us today to help you reach your real estate goals.

Make Sure You’re Informed

When it comes to big financial decisions like purchasing a home, it’s important that you’re informed in every aspect. Otherwise, you can find yourself regretting your decision. Instead, take the time to educate yourself about what you’re getting into prior to committing to buy any property. The following things to consider when buying a house can help you get started, but feel free to do additional research to make sure you are confident in your decision making.

8 Things to Consider When Buying a House

1. Know Your Credit Score

Your credit score is one of the most important factors that banks and other lenders consider when it comes to your loan terms. Before even attempting to get a loan, you should know what your credit score is and where you fall on the spectrum. If you don’t know what it is, or you know that your credit score is on the lower end, it might be wise to first focus on improving your credit before attempting to get approved for a loan.

While your credit score plays a big role in the mortgage process, lenders look at several other factors as well, including your income, property type, assets, and debt levels, to determine whether to approve you for a loan. As a result, your credit score can differ based on the results of these other factors. Nerd Wallet gives a good overview of the minimum credit score by loan type so that you can see where you stand.

2. Get Pre-Approved

Once you know what your credit score is, your next step should be to get pre-approved by a lender. This is easily one of the most important parts of the home buying process. Once you’re pre-approved, you should be able to get the loan you were approved for as long as nothing drastic changes when it comes to your employment or financial situation.

One of the first things that your real estate agent will ask you is whether you’ve gone through the pre-approval process. A pre-approval letter helps when it comes to competing for a home with another buyer. Sellers want to know how qualified a buyer is especially if they’re making an offer on the house. If you want to learn more about pre-approvals and how they work, check out our blog Want to Buy A House? Here’s Why Pre-Approval is Important.

3. Know What You Want and How Much You Can Afford

Before you begin shopping around, you should have a good idea of what it is that you want. Is it a single-family residence? What about a condo? First time home buyers often encounter this problem as they’re unable to decide what they want. Take your time to understand the benefits and downsides of these different options and make a decision before you begin seeing homes.
It’s important to remember that you’ll probably be living in this home for years to come so be careful what you’re prioritizing and make sure that the same things you are prioritizing now will also be important to you in the future, otherwise you’ll quickly be looking for another home.

4. Work with an Experienced Agent

By working with an experienced real estate agent, especially one who knows the area that you’re looking to buy in, you’ll put yourself in an advantageous position as they’ll know what homes are worth, how the market is behaving, and other important details that others may not know. A locally-informed agent can help you avoid overpaying for a house.
Not every agent will be right for you. That’s why you should interview and meet with several to determine which one you have the best relationship with and which one you’re confident can help you find the home you’re looking for.

At CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate, we’re confident that our team of agents can help you find your dream home. If you’re ready to make the jump to becoming a homeowner, let us help you. Contact us today to get started.

5. Verify the Listing Information

Be sure to verify whether all of the information that is provided about the home is correct. Listings can sometimes be misleading and display information that is inaccurate, so it’s important to do your due diligence and verify these things for yourself.

6. Get a Home Inspection

Imagine this: you’ve found a house that you absolutely adore, it’s within your price range and is located in the neighborhood that you want to live in, but what you don’t know is that it has black mold, a poor foundation, or is prone to leaking. So you buy it without knowing any of these things and are distraught once you find out any of the above and realize that you’ve made a big mistake.
If you had only gotten a home inspection, you would have known about these red flags long before you ever purchased the house, thus saving yourself a major headache. When it comes to things to consider when buying a house, getting an inspection should be considered at the very top.

7. Ensure Renovations Are Up-to-Code

Home renovations are very common, but if you’re buying a home, make sure to verify that any renovations were completed with a permit. Not only may they be incorrect if done without a permit, but work done without a permit can become an issue for you down the line when you try to sell the home. People commonly avoid obtaining a permit because they’ll have to pay more money in taxes due to the value of their home increasing. It is advisable that you ask the seller to get the permits taken care of before you buy the home.

8. Prepare to Act Quickly

Due to an inventory shortage in North Central Ohio and across the country, buyers need to be prepared to act quickly and make swift decisions when it comes to making an offer on a house they’re interested in. Listings are currently going under contract almost immediately so there’s no time to waste sitting around making a decision. Be swift.

Ready to Buy Your Next Home? We’re Here to Help

Now that you’ve reviewed these eight things to consider when buying a house, work with a company that has been buying and selling homes across North Central Ohio for more than 80 years and is the largest brokerage in the region. Our team lives and works here, and we’ll be by your side every step of the way to ensure that you’re totally satisfied with your buying or selling process. Contact us today to help you reach your real estate goals.

And don’t forget to sign up for list alerts via email. There’s no better way to stay up-to-date on all of the newest listings coming on the market. Simply tell us a bit about what you’re interested in, and we’ll send you listing details as they become available. This is a great opportunity to stay ahead of the competition — particularly during a time like this when inventory is scarce.