Whether you are a first-time homebuyer or have bought a home before, there are a few key things to keep in mind when you are purchasing a home. Continue reading below for a few important things to keep in mind when purchasing a home. BuyIt realty is committed to making the purchase process as easy and smooth as possible. Contact Us and one of our agents will be happy to help you get the process started.

	Location, location, location. We've all heard that the most important thing to look for in a home is its location. It's true -- location is very important, even if you don't plan to be there many years. Proximity to town: How convenient will quick trips to the grocery store be? Do you care? Proximity to schools: Is the school district a good one? Do you like the school your kids would attend? This is important for resale, even if you don't have kids yourself. Proximity to work: How long will your commute to work be? Proximity to other amenities: If you have kids, will you be driving all over the county to take them to sports events and school functions? Would that bother you? Crime rate: Does the area have a high rate of crime compared to other areas of town? Tax rate: Do you have to pay both city and county property taxes? Zoning: What's going to be built next to you in the future? Or, what restrictions might there be on what you can do in your home? Some home businesses can be affected by zoning issues. Restrictive covenants: Does the neighborhood have restrictive covenants, or will you have a chicken farm pop up on the property next to yours? If you want a chicken farm yourself, does the neighborhood allow it?! Homeowners association: Is there an active neighborhood organization that will help maintain and improve the area? Public transportation: Do you have transportation options? Is that important to you? Noise: Go to the property at various times of the day. Is there a lot of noise from traffic? Are you in a flight pattern from the local airport? Safety issues: Are you near a nuclear or other potentially dangerous facility? Is there a landfill nearby that lowers the property value? Neighbors: Do the neighbors have similar values to yours? Go to the neighborhood at night and on weekends to get a taste of the types of activities that go on. Even if some of these things aren't important to you, when it comes time to sell, the location of the home will always have an impact. The other thing to keep in mind about location is that your preferences will change over the years. What's important to you right now may not be so important in 10 years and vice versa.

	When you begin the search for your home you have three choices: You can go it alone and do all of the legwork of finding homes by looking in the newspaper, searching online, or simply asking around. You can call a real estate agent and ask them to show you homes. This is a great option and helps ensure you don’t miss out on a lot of potentially great properties. You will also find that utilizing the assistance of a real estate agent doesn’t cost you any money because the seller pays the commission to the agent based on a percentage of the sales price. You can sign a contract with a buyer's agent.

	Take note of things you like and dislike about each home. It is also a good idea to make a house comparison chart to jot down information as you go through the house (or immediately after). This should be done for every home you see and attached to the listing sheet. Sketching the floor plan is also a good idea because it doesn't take long at all for all of those houses you've seen to start running together. You'll quickly forget which house had that beautiful staircase and which house had the second story loft you liked so much. Probably more importantly, though, you may also forget which one had that leaky shower drain in the upstairs bathroom. Since you really need to see at least a dozen or more homes in order to get a good feel for what you can get for your money, having a system to help you keep everything straight is all the more important. Taking photos is also a good idea to help keep things straight in your head as far as which house had which feature (prior to picture-taking, you'll want to make sure this is OK with the homeowner). If you have found a house (or houses) you like, it's good to go for a walk-through several times and at different times of the day. You may find there are things that are apparent in the morning or at night that weren't when you saw it the first time. For example, the neighbor's dog likes to bark all night, the street is a teen drive-through scene and a hangout in the mornings before school -- anything that you might not necessarily want to live with. Make sure you see a copy of the neighborhood restrictive covenants and know how much the homeowner association dues are. Also ask about other neighborhood expenses. For example, living in an equestrian neighborhood may be nice, but not if you don't own horses but still have to shell out money for fence and barn repairs.

	When you've found the house and are ready to make an offer, there are several steps you need to take and contracts that need to be drawn up. Here is where your real estate attorney or agent really comes in handy. The first thing that happens is your official offer, or bid. When you make the offer, you have to keep in mind that it could easily become a legally binding contract if the seller accepts it. Because of this, you need to make sure the offer includes all of the contingencies, concessions, and other details you need it to cover. In the next section we discuss the items your offer should include.

	Here are some examples of things that should be included your offer: Your offered purchase price and the amount of earnest money you are putting down Home inspection contingencies: Since the inspection may take place after the offer is accepted, you need to state that the entire deal is contingent upon an acceptable inspection report. If the house is on a well and septic system rather than city water and sewer, these should also be inspected. Financing contingencies: You can also include a contingency for getting the mortgage you want (i.e., maximum interest rates, expected terms, etc.) Items included in the purchase: This list can include things like major appliances (often the refrigerator goes with the seller), lighting fixtures, shrubbery, basically anything that isn't nailed down and some things that are! Title contingencies: Your attorney will do a title search to make sure the property does not have any other legal claims against it and that the seller holds a clear title to it. Timeline: A deadline for responding so you know when to consider the offer rejected There may also be other special considerations that your agent or attorney may recommend, so be sure to ask for their advice. The offered purchase price is, of course, the most important aspect of the offer. Here is where a buyer's agent really helps. A buyer's agent should be able to provide you with a comparative market analysis (CMA) that will show you what similar properties sold for in that particular neighborhood or the immediate surrounding area. This can also be used as ammunition if the seller counters your offered price. While the seller's agent probably provided them with a CMA before they listed the price, they may have chosen to price their home higher with the hope that buyers wouldn't have a similar document for comparison. Buyers who are using a traditional agent rather than a buyer's agent are pretty much on their own in deciding an appropriate offer. Armed with this comparative information, you might also make a quick drive by the other properties just to do your own comparison. Keep in mind that some of the amenities in the house may not increase the value of the home as much as the sellers might think. For instance, a backyard pool for some folks is a great advantage, while others may see it only as a liability and have immediate plans for filling it in with dirt and concrete!

	It is a very infrequent occurrence that an initial offer is accepted. You can almost always expect some sort of counter to your offer and negotiations. It may be strictly related to price or it may be the fact that you want the porch swing and washer and dryer included in the deal. Be prepared for some haggling. It's extremely important that you keep your financial state of affairs in mind and not let your heart make you house poor. (House poor is when you've overspent your budget on the mortgage and now can't afford to buy new drapes for the house or take your spouse out to dinner!) Another helpful tidbit of information has to do with why the sellers are selling and how long the house has been on the market. Are they building a house and trying to meet a construction deadline? Have they already moved into another home and are now carrying two mortgages? Has the house been on and off the market for a year or more? All of these things can strengthen your negotiations in the deal. Finally, be realistic in your offer for the house. Don't make a lowball offer on a house you really want. If your research has shown that the price is realistic, then offering a really low price is only going to annoy the sellers and potentially upset your chances of getting the house. Just remember that until you have a signed contract, anyone else can step in and make another offer.

	Since the entire deal could be riding on the professional inspection of the home, don't cut corners when it comes to the house inspection -- and never skip it altogether. Even with new houses, there can be hidden problems that only a professional inspector may find. These inspections cost anywhere from $200-$500 and are well worth it. If you are getting an FHA or VA loan, you will also have to have an additional inspection. (Don't let that one be the only inspection you get, however, because it may not be as thorough as a full-blown inspection.) Your offer should be contingent on the results of the professional inspection. This means that if the inspection turns up something like really bad termite infestation or cracks in the foundation, you can back out of the contract, OR you can have the seller repair the problem to your satisfaction. When looking for an inspector, make sure you hire someone with experience who is certified by the American Society of Home Inspectors. Inspectors with this certification follow a standard of practice that will help let you know if the home you're buying is in the best shape possible or needs repair. The types of things the inspector looks at are defects that affect the value of the home or make it unsafe or less livable for whatever reason. Leaky appliances, damp basements, plumbing problems and other defects are some of the problems that can be turned up by a good inspector. You should accompany the inspector when they go to inspect the house. Ask as many questions as you can and make sure you get a copy of the results. Here is a list of some of the major areas inspectors will cover: Foundation: With either a basement or a crawl space, is it simply damp or are there outright water problems? Are there any cracks in the walls or floor that might indicate structural problems? Construction: Does the house have good quality construction? Is the flashing properly installed to protect wood, are there any rotting problems with the wood, is the roof in good shape or will it need replacing soon, etc. Plumbing: Has the plumbing been properly installed? Is it in good shape? Is there any evidence of leaks? Heating and cooling systems: Are the units in good shape? Will they need replacing soon? Are they rated for the amount of square footage they are heating? Electrical: Do there appear to be any electrical problems or code violations? Interior: Are the floors level? Do windows and doors function properly? Do the appliances in the kitchen function properly? Is there any evidence of leaks or mildew in the bathrooms? The bottom line is, don't skip the inspection and make sure the inspector you hire is experienced and certified to do the job.