Getting a good deal on a home is often more about timing than purchase price. Because most homes are financed through at least a 15-year mortgage (usually 20- or 30-year), the amount paid in interest has an enormous impact on what the home will ultimately cost. The contract price may be $150,000. By the time interest is calculated over 30 years, however, you could easily pay twice or even three times that amount, depending on what the interest rate is on the day you lock into a mortgage rate.

Lower interest rates make it possible to finance the same amount of money for a lower payment, or finance more money without increasing the payment. How so? Let’s look at financing $150,000 for 30 years at 6.50%.

Your approximate principal and interest payment would be about $948 monthly. Another option would be to finance $158,000 with a monthly payment of roughly $947. This option would allow you to borrow an additional $8,000 without hardly changing the payment. If the interest rate dropped to 6.00%, however, the payment would decrease to approximately $899 per month. Whether you’re looking to buy your first home, or thinking about upgrading to a bigger one, lower rates open the opportunity to find a great buy. The other vital element is location. The award-winning city of Huntsville, Alabama has much to offer.

The Value of Huntsville

No one wants to buy a home that won’t resell well. So, where do you look to ensure you get value? In a June 30, 2007 survey, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reports, “Of 287 metro areas, 131 recorded decreases in house prices during the quarter.” The Huntsville real estate market, however, was ranked 36 out of 287 in price appreciation, and came in above average with a second quarter increase of 1.76%. Plainly stated, while houses in many areas are losing value, Huntsville, Alabama is still an affordable and wise housing choice.

What Does Huntsville Have To Offer?

Huntsville is widely recognized as being one of the country’s best places to work, live and go to school. The September 2007 issue of U.S. News & World Report says, “The University of Alabama in Huntsville ranks among the top ten percent of business schools in the county.” Check with MSN/Sperling’s Best Places and you will find that Huntsville is named one of the country’s top ten cities for job growth and affordability. So, what makes this southern town such a remarkable place to live? Huntsville offers a thriving job market, lower than average cost of living, plenty of options for entertainment and a climate that enjoys the best of all four seasons.

If you’re considering buying a home, now may be a good time to do so if you’re looking in the Huntsville real estate market. And with all it has to offer, Huntsville could easily be just what you’ve been waiting for.

Tip #1: Make sure you understand the terms of your mortgage agreement.

A mortgage agreement is more than an interest rate. Foreclosure has become a huge problem in recent years in part because people do not always read the documents they sign. It might be a lot of paperwork, but you should know exactly the terms to which you’re agreeing. What happens if you’re late on a payment? When is the money due every month? Are there balloon payments in your future? What rights does the mortgage lender have to call in the remaining debt? What rights do you have in a foreclosure situation? How much can your interest rate change over time? What will you be paying in closing costs? If you do not know the answers to all of these questions, you have not read your mortgage paperwork closely enough. As a new home buyer, it is your responsibility to ensure that your bases are covered.

Tip #2: Pay for points if you can.

Most lenders offer “points” as part of your closing costs, and you have the option to pay for these or not. Paying for points is only a good idea if you can pay for them without overstretch yourself, and if you already have enough money for the down payment and other closing costs. Points are a way to get a lower interest rate by giving some money upfront, and they are not available for everyone. To a certain degree, paying for points does not make sense because you will pay more for the point than you will save in the interest. Your mortgage lender should help you determine the maximum amount you should pay in points. If you do not understand the process, make sure you ask questions until you do.

Tip #3: Don’t be afraid to ask your mortgage lender questions.

Many people do not ask their mortgage lender many questions because they are afraid that their rates will go up or that they will be denied a mortgage altogether. That should not be the case. Yes, a mortgage lender has the choice to work with you or not, but you are essentially “hiring” someone to work for you. The right mortgage lender should welcome any and all questions you may have, even after the paperwork has been signed. Before working with a mortgage lender, make sure you understand your mortgage completely, and during the time when you are repaying your mortgage, do not be afraid to call your mortgage lender if you have questions about anything. You have the right to have all of your questions answered, and if one mortgage lender seems annoyed to answer, consider working with someone else.

Tip #4: Be considerate of your mortgage lender’s time.

Your representative from your mortgage company puts a lot of work into figuring out your rate and drawing up the right documents. It is important to be considerate of his or her time. If your plans change part way through the process or your have a hard time making a payment as you are repaying the mortgage, call your mortgage lender to discuss the situation. Also, even though you should feel free to ask questions (see the tip above), before you go into a house-buying situation, make sure you understand a little about how mortgages work so that you don’t waste time trying to learn about the most basic concepts.

Tip #5: Fix your credit before approaching a mortgage lender.

If you want to avoid issues with getting approved, make sure that you have your ducks lined up before you even start looking for a mortgage lender. Credit scores aren’t easy to fix, but it can be done. Start by paying off any late debts you may have, and then pay off other bills, starting with your credit cards. You can also contact the credit reporting agencies if you see mistakes that could be damaging your score, and it could help to close some of your credit cards so that you don’t have as high of a debt potential. Wait a few months for the changes you’ve made to take effect on your report, and while you’re doing that, save up to that you have even more money for a down payment and closing costs.

Basically, home staging is the practice of preparing a home for sale before it is made available on the housing market. This process is necessary and utterly important because it helps sellers advertise their houses better and it hastens the decision of buyers to consider the house. 

Home staging is all about creating an illusion. If you want to sell your house, you must make it look attractive and desirable. You should appeal to the desires of buyers. What does this mean? It means that you should exhaust all means by which your house will look better compared to all the others out in the market. Surely, competition is one thing you have to be prepared for.

In order to stage a home, you could use the expertise of a professional stager, whose services can cost you anywhere from $500 to $5000. You could also search online tips and do the staging yourself. Of course, you should start with surveying your house. Look for possible fixes. Detect everything that might need repairs. See to it that the interior and exterior parts of the house look attractive enough and are free of clutter.

Speaking of clutter, the other important thing to do next is clean. A dirty house will surely turn off a buyer. Make sure that all nooks and crannies of the house do not have visible dust and that they are free of mites and cockroaches. Put away your children’s scattered toys and make sure that your pets do not leave any visible stains on carpets and floors.

There are other things you can do to stage your home. You should remember that, if you want the house to get sold much quicker, you have to do all of these procedures. Nobody is going to take a second look at your house if it is dirty and not too appealing. And the only way to avoid this is by having the house ready for viewing through staging.  

Home inspection procedure will allow you to evaluate if you are indeed paying for the right house.  If the home inspector starts to check various areas in the house, looks that there are a lot of damages, you can ask for some considerations on the price.  You really don’t have to shell out a huge sum of money at the start of the buying process.  On the other hand, if he looks at it that there are only a couple of damages, and then you can be assured that you have made the right decision.  You will not have to worry if it is durable enough to last up for decades.

After you have purchased the property, it is also beneficial if you have it inspected so you can see those things that need immediate repairs.  Based on the form given to you by the inspector, you can see which one needs more attention and have it repaired as soon as possible.  These repairs will not have to be done all at ounce.  You can do it one at a time depending on which will fit within your budget. 

A home inspection after closing the transaction will allow you to realize that you are not putting more value to the house without going through appropriate documentation.  It will simply show that you took your own initiative to fix and improve the house.  When you sell the property, you can ask for a higher price compared to the original amount that you have paid before.  Possible home buyers can feel secured in acquiring your house if this is the case.

Allowing your house to undergo home inspection, before or after the transaction, is a wise move.  It is some sort of a protection from possible problems that will come in your way which can be more costly if discovered later on.  It can help you evaluate if the house that you wish to buy is indeed a worthwhile investment to make.  It can also be a form of formality on your part to place everything you have made on the house into appropriate documentation.  In this way, you can inform the public about the current status of the house.

For security purposes, gather all the necessary documents given by the home inspector.  You can use them in the future.  You will see the essence of home inspection process as soon as you have started to stay in the house.  Hence, do not miss the chance to have your house inspected by a reliable home inspector.