1. What You Must Know Before Your Write A Contract
   
2. Know your credit score
   
3. Get Pre-Approved for a Loan
   
4. Know how much home you can afford
   
5. Find the home that's right for you and your family
   
6. Work with an experienced licensed real estate agent
   
7. Making an offer
   
8. Know your rights and obligations
   
9. At the closing table
   

Before you begin looking at homes, you should read this helpful guide. By following the key tips in this document, you can save yourself hours of work and protect yourself from common mistakes.

Before you begin looking at homes, you may want to check the condition of your credit. Mortgage companies will review it when determining if you are eligible for a loan. By checking your credit in advance, should an error be present, you will be able to address it and have it corrected. There are three large national credit bureaus that supply most credit reports, and each of them may have a report on file for you. The three national bureaus are

• Experian, 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com
  
• Equifax, 1-800-685-1111, www.equifax.com
  
• TransUnion, 1-800-916-8800, www.transunion.com

You are entitled to receive one free credit file disclosure every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies through www.annualcreditreport.com. Eligibility is determined by your state of residence and based on a rollout schedule set by federal law. Some states allow you to request your credit report more than once a year, so do your research and get to know your rights.

This is a critical beginning. Robbins Realty's Buyer's Agents can guide you as to the necessary steps to correct errors on your credit report. They can also offer recommendations on how to repair your credit.

Why is pre-approval so important? Imagine finding the home of your dreams after weeks of searching. It's absolutely perfect and you want to put in an offer right away. You go back to your agent's office, write up a contract and send it over to the listing agent.

The first thing they ask is, "Can you actually afford to buy the house?" A simple "yes" won't do. You need a letter from a lender stating that you can indeed afford the mortgage (pre-approval letter), before they'll even consider the offer. In the meantime, another offer comes in from a buyer who was already pre-approved. It's understandable that the sellers would want to go with the sure thing…and that's just what they do.

This scenario is all too common in real estate today. The best way to avoid heartache (and the headache of rushing around to get pre-approval at the last minute) is to get pre-approved before you even start looking. Robbins Realty has a long-standing relationship with many top mortgage lenders who can get you pre-qualified with a just a few questions asked over the phone.

The last thing you want to do is waste your time looking at homes you can’t afford. Contact a mortgage company before you start house hunting and know exactly how much home you can afford to buy. Then, when you find the home of your dreams, you’ll know it’s within your means.

Robbins Realty has affiliations with several local mortgage companies who can get you pre-qualified for a mortgage. After you are pre-qualified, your mortgage company will give you a pre-approval letter, which is necessary for you to successfully write an offer.

Before you can find the home of your dreams, you'll need to decide just what is important to you and your family. It's best to start with a list of must-haves then make a list of criteria that you would love to have in your new home, but could live without if they didn't fit into the budget.

Your "must-have" criteria should include: price, location, number of bedrooms and number of bathrooms. Robbins Realty recommends you keep your must-have criteria to a minimum; you want to narrow your options without eliminating everything. Our team will help you locate the home that fits your lifestyle and meets or exceeds your requirements.

The seller typically pays the Realtor® fee, so there is no cost to the buyer for utilizing the services of a real estate agent to find a home. However, there are certain instances where the buyer and his agent may have to negotiate who will pay the Realtor® fee when purchasing a home that is listed for sale by owner.

Licensed agents are members of a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that allows them the ability to put your specific criteria into the MLS database and pull only those homes that match your needs. This saves you countless hours of driving around aimlessly and pouring through newspapers and other real estate publications.

• Click Here for a Free Buyers Representation Form

With experienced licensed Buyer's Agents on our team, Robbins Realty makes it easy for you to find your dream home. One of our agents will take you out to visit various neighborhoods and tour the homes that fit your criteria.

Once you locate a home that meets your requirements, you'll want to write an offer as soon as possible since many homes don't stay on the market long. Your agent will help you determine fair market value based on his/her knowledge of the market and on the information contained in a survey of comparable homes in the area or in the neighborhood that have recently sold.

Once you have established an offer price, your agent will then write a contract and present it to the co-op agent. The co-op agent presents your offer to his/her seller and they may reply with a counter-offer. This is where your agent's negotiating skills go to work for you! This process continues until all parties come to agreement on a fair price.

When you work with an experienced Buyer's Agent on the Robbins Realty team, you can be sure each has the experience, objectivity and skill to represent you at the negotiating table, ensuring your satisfaction. Furthermore, they have the backing of our nearly 20 years of experience to draw upon.

Our experienced buyer's agent will recommend that you have the home inspected by a qualified inspector who is a member of the Council of American Building Officials, CABO, or American Society of Home Inspectors, ASHI. Other issues your agent can help you address include finalizing the loan process, getting insurance coverage per the terms of your loan, and much more.

This step is vital to a smooth closing. Draw upon the experience of the Robbins Realty team. Our expertise and professionalism make us the ideal resource for finding a list of qualified vendors and service providers.

You will want your Buyer's Agents at your side to represent your interest at the closing table. Should questions arise at the closing table, you have the assurance that a professional can help you clearly understand, so that you will feel confident about every decision you have to make for the closing of your new home.

While the closing process is usually straightforward, you will find that having an experienced professional by your side can be reassuring. When you work with a Buyer's Agent from the Robbins Realty team, you can rely on their experience, education and strong real estate knowledge should questions arise.