In today’s competitive real estate market, making an offer on a home can be stressful. But there are some things to keep in mind when you make offers on a home that you will feel comfortable with afterward.

Know Your Budget

When you find yourself in a bidding war, you have to keep in mind your original budget when you started this process. In this hot real estate market, it is easy to get swept up in the fast pace, and you can find yourself bidding over your budget limits.

You have to make your budget before you start shopping for a new home. In addition to the monthly mortgage payment, your budget has to include property taxes, homeowners insurance, utility costs, and homeowners association fees, if there are any. You will need to consider other monthly bills and savings. If you don’t, too much of your income will go towards the home.

Before you even make an offer, you will have already been pre-approved for a mortgage amount. But your budget goes beyond what the house will cost. Knowing your budget before making an offer will let you know when to stop bidding and walk away.

Research Everything

Before you make an offer, you should have done all research on the property. It is okay to make an offer somewhat above the value of the property. But you should know beforehand just what the value of the home is.

You need to keep in mind information that includes:

• Property taxes on the home

• How is the school system’s reputation

• Comparable sales on similar homes in the area

• Neighborhood information like its walk score, crime rate and other information

• The homes history

• How many days has the home been on the market

• An estimate of the home’s monthly utility bills
  

You can research this information from any of the real estate companies in Baton Rouge or any city. Having this information before making an offer will allow you to make the best bid or to know when to walk away from the bidding.

The Home Inspection

In today’s crazy real estate market, there are stories of buyers making offers on a home without getting the home inspected. That might be fine for those with very deep pockets, but for the normal home buyer, it is risky. If you feel pressured to skip the home inspection before making an offer, you should find out why you are being pressured.

A home inspection will tell you if any expensive repairs are necessary. If there are, you can negotiate with the seller about who pays for these repairs or possibly renegotiate the selling price. Keep in mind that inspectors know what to look for. You don’t want to be surprised after buying the house that it needs thousands of dollars in repairs.

Keeping these three things in mind when making an offer on a new home will help you adhere to your budget and guidelines.