The homebuying process is one that is full of decisions. Do you want a house or a condo? Should you shop for a new or an existing home?
If you settle on a newly-built home, a whole new set of decisions enters the picture.
Before you hop in the car to visit new home communities, however, there  are a few things you should do to protect yourself during the purchase process.
Lay the foundation properly, and you’ll make it to closing with nary a hitch.
1. Get Clear on your Finances
Walking into a new-home purchase without knowing how much you can afford to spend on a house puts you at the mercy of the builder and/or his lender.
Since buying this home may be the biggest financial decision of your life, you owe it to yourself to go into the process with as much knowledge as possible.
See a lender before viewing even one home. Find out how much you can spend and then stick to that price range when shopping for a home.
Then, compare lender quotes before making a final commito ...

There’s a road you will head down when you first decide that it’s time to buy a home. Before taking even the first step, you’ll encounter a fork in that road. Sadly, most first-time homebuyers take the wrong fork and end up disappointed.
Not having a clue about your credit
 Do you know what’s lurking in your credit reports?
It’s bad enough that nearly 80 percent of credit reports contain errors, but did you know that nearly a quarter of them contain mistakes so bad they result in a denial of credit?
Don’t be among those rejected—order copies of your credit reports and go over them, looking for errors. You are entitled to free copies of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus every 12 months. Get yours at AnnualCreditReport.com.
If you find errors, file a dispute and clear up the problems before applying for a mortgage. The Federal Trade commission offers additional information on how to obtain your free creo ...

Call them “red flags,” or “warning signs” or even “whoa, don’t-buy-this-house” signs, but there are certain symptoms of a sick home that you need to be aware of before you fall in love with a sexy fireplace or a to-die-for backyard. Once you’re smitten, it may be too late.
Now, don’t get me wrong, most houses, even new ones, have something wrong. Even if it’s a problem as easy to fix as a drippy faucet, no home is perfect.
But what we’ll look at today are the biggies – those items that require emptying your bank account to repair. They don’t necessarily need to be considered deal breakers, but should prompt you to have the home inspected by the appropriate professional.
Don’t be crestfallen if you happen to find some of these because the good news is that you found them now, rather than later. Now, as in you can either demand the seller fix them or you can back out of the deal. If you were to learn oo ...

Think back to a time when you, or someone you know, sold or traded in a car. There was some work to do before advertising it for sale or taking it to the car lot, right? It’s a rare car seller who’ll leave all the fast-food wrappers, empty plastic water bottles and crumbs left behind by the kids.
Why?
Because a clean car gives off an impression of being well-maintained.
It’s the same thing with houses. Sadly, cleaning and decluttering a car about to go on the market is a routine task, doing the same for homes isn’t.
Yet a home is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars more than a car.
First, get rid of the clutter
Scientific studies show that clutter causes anxiety in people who view it. Not a good state for a homebuyer to be in, and reason enough to get rid of excess “stuff” in the home.
If you have a lot of it, the process may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to. Remember the old advice on how to eat an elephant (one bite at a tio ...

When the last time you bought a home was far enough back that your mortgage is paid off, or nearly so, can we give you some advice? A lot has changed in the real estate industry since the 1980s, in both the selling and buying process.

First, you’re no longer looking for areas with good schools for the kids or a strong job market for Mom and Dad. So, your priorities have changed as well and you have far more freedom now to live where you want and how you want.


It’s liberating, isn’t it?

If you’re considering downsizing your home, read on.

Right now, half of the “most viewed” articles on AARP’s website deal with romance, sex and vacations. Retirees — or those contemplating retirement — don’t have a one-track mind though.

When they aren’t reading about hooking up, or the birds and the bees, they think about their finances. And downsizing a home isn’t just a way to save on home maintenance costs but alo ...