Things That We Should Know Before Purchasing a Home

Planning to purchase a home is never an easy thing. You may have family or friends who can provide some useful advice about your plans, but they are not necessarily about the particular things that take place on the market presently. The best thing to do is to seek consultation from someone who has the idea about everything that we need when planning to buy a home.

Why are you planning to buy a house in the first place?

Planning to move to a new home does not only mean that you are financially stable, or can afford a dwelling for a family. The most important things here is your “family”, we need a safe place to raise our children, give them a quality education near home, and a comfortable and healthy surrounding. Suited to be called “home”.

You should focus on the actual reasons why you are planning to purchase, and then decide whether it is worth waiting for. Whether you want to have a great place for your children to grow up, want your family to be safer or you just want to have control over renovations.

Many are torn and confused about deciding whether to sign a new lease on a rental property or take the dive into home-ownership. Every situation is different. However, with rents, home values and mortgage interest rates are projected to rise; buying now might make a lot more sense than waiting until next year.

Whether you are a first time home buyer or move-up buyer who wanted a new chapter for your life and for your family, you should choose an agent who’san expert in that particular local area, who can bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise about buying you dream home.
 
Sohail Pirzada
Realtor / CEO, Team Sohail of TX & NJ
Luxury Homes International Member
Global Property Specialist                                                                       
Keller Williams Realty
850 East State Highway 114, Southlake, TX 76092

Choosing the Right Neighborhood

If you’re a home buyer, how long does it take to finally decide on choosing the perfect home for you to live in? THAT is actually uncertain, but more often than not, it takes about a month or more to settle on which home you’d choose to purchase, isn’t that right? Why does it take this long? One factor to this is that you actually don’t have the luxury of time to check up on the type of neighborhood where the said property is located. Otherwise you don’t make time, and wouldn’t bother checking anyway. It’s because most buyers would pay more attention on the dwelling that fits their budget, and their dreams of having a better lifestyle. You may have a magnificent mansion, expensive appliances, glorious house detail, and rich taste in themes of each room in your house, but what if one day you wake up and realize that you’re actually feeling distressed due to the fact that you inhabit a place where the neighborhood doesn’t fit you at all? The people, the amenities, the establishments, the whole environment surrounding you and your home, and all the other factors that determine whether or not you're living the American dream. These are the things you have mislooked as a buyer.

People often move-in to another house due to divorce, downsizing or getting ready to start a family, these are life changing events for any individual. Without bothering to verify for themselves, they would usually move-in in areas of low crime rates, good school and low taxes, even if these are just hearsay from friends or close relatives and other people they know. Assuming without assurance is overrated, your agent should be well aware of your needs and concerns, although if you remain unconvinced, the best thing for you to do is to scope out your supposedly soon-to-be neighborhood. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong if you try to find out the crime rate records of the area, it’s for your own safety anyway, besides, it’s ideal to do a background check and double checking on everything before you settle in. A neighborhood behaves differently at night than during daytime and afternoon, try to observe and compare if this neighborhood has wilder things going on when all the lights go out. If that’s the case, then you should be alarmed. Investigating your neighborhood is not as hard as mission impossible, a simple drive or walk around the community will do. Schools, medical services, police departments, fire departments etc. these are particularly important when choosing a rural or suburban neighborhood, especially for those who have children. As much as possible visit your soon-to-be neighborhoods not just once, but do it at different times of the day and in different days of the week. It may seem like a lot of work for you, but trust me, it’s worth it. After all, this is vital in fulfilling your American Dream.

“When you're happy you find pure joy in your life. There are no regrets in this state of happiness - and that's a goal worth striving for in all areas of your life.” -Suze Orman

Sometimes we tend to set our focus on things that need to be done immediately, in our haste we become unorganized and begin to disregard some other minor, if not major factors that we also need to put consideration on. In buying your house, do take time to explore your environment, ask yourself, is this a nice place to live in? Is this healthy and suitable for my family? Is it safe for us to stay here? If you’re satisfied with your answer, then go ahead and make your decision, that document has been waiting for you to affix your signature. Welcome to your new home!

"Misconceptions and Illusions”

We all have our own opinion with Real Estate Agents and the Industry as well. Let’s characterize facts from opinions in buying or selling a property. There are a lot of critics but we shouldn’t generalize all of the agents when some acts just don't rise to the occasion to serve their clients as expected. In choosing an agent, you need to consider the facts before making a decision. Misconception leads to confusion.

Punctuality is very necessary in being a Real Estate Agent. We should practice this approach in every business especially during appointments for we don’t want our clients to wait for us. Gain your client’s trust by living in their world which means, being always on time. We shouldn’t annoy them by excuses on delays if we want to keep them. Receiving other benefits from affiliates is a BIG NO for a real estate agent because it’s illegal and reputations could be ruined by that putting your license on the line. Real Estate Agents are required to obey instructions, must be loyal and keep their client's best interests ahead of those of any other party including themselves, to disclose material facts to their client, not to disclose anything about your client, their business, financial or personal affairs or motivations, to accurately report all monies pertaining to the transaction and the ultimate disposition, are expected to have a certain level of knowledge and be able to advise and guide your client through the process without harm. A good relationship with a client is very beneficial to increase sales, if we have made a client happy, surely there would be referrals.

Being a Real Estate Agent is not an easy profession, we needed to be knowledgeable and hardworking at all times to survive. We studied to pass the examination in getting our licenses like an ordinary student and that’s though as we have families and needs. We need to earn every month to make ends meet and we are unemployed until someone hires us to sell their properties. DON’T BE CONFUSED BY YOUR MISCONCEPTIONS.

The biggest misconception people have is that quality is all that matters. The truth is that quality helps, but there's a ton of high-quality things that don't go anywhere.

-Jonah Peretti

"Why a Professional?"

We all know that every dream house is the result of a person’s hard work and it is always the fruit of someone’s labor, and sometimes, there are some things we need to let go. with the fact that we worked hard to earn what we got, it is typical for us to ensure that we get compensated fairly, accordingly, if not more. however, sometimes sweet dreams can turn out sour or worst, it can turn out to be a nightmare. definitely, none of us wants to experience this. so how do we avoid such inconvenience to make everything easier and more convenient?

Some of us may think that getting updated with the latest trends with regards to buy a home and sell a property can be easily done and achieved with the help of everyone’s best friend, Mr. Google. yes, that is true. but everyone must also know that when it comes to the in-depth knowledge and process of real estate, we definitely need someone who is well-versed and has a good perception towards this business.

Let's be frank, are you a good negotiator? can go through the process objectively while staying detached, knows the market and more skills needed. from the buyer (who wants the best deal possible), to the home inspection companies, to the appraiser, there are at least 11-15 different people that you will have to be knowledgeable with and answer to, during the process.

According to Dave Ramsey a respected American financial author; “When getting help with money, whether it’s insurance, real estate or investments, you should always look for someone with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.”

It is therefore very essential that when you’re about to hire an agent, you need to choose the one who takes time to listens, who cares, who will do what is promised, who speaks from the heart.

As per your unique requirements, not only it is important for your property to be priced correctly from the start to attract the right buyers and must be done as per your timeline, but you also need someone who can go through the process objectively, to share with you the truth as to your property's value.

Hiring an agent therefore, who has their finger on the pulse of the market will also make your buying/selling experience an educated one with the least amount of inconvenience to you and your family. and so, you need someone who is going to tell you the truth, not just what they think you want to hear.

Bottom Line:

You wouldn’t hike up Kilimanjaro without a Sherpa, or replace the engine in your car without a trusted mechanic, so why would you make one of the most important financial decisions of your life without hiring a Real Estate Professional?

The True Gauge of Success

Success is defined by dictionaries as accomplishment of one’s goals; the attainment of wealth, position, honors, status or the like. But then again, is there truly a measure of success? Are there parameters that exist which may serve as a framework to the pursuit of one’s success?

It is a human predisposition to gauge accomplishments by the flaws in life they have overcome. It is the reason why faults and weaknesses are “magnified” because it is seen as obstacles rather than building blocks that should otherwise strengthen one’s resolve and purpose.

“Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses."

~ Marilyn vos Savant

We are quick to succumb to dejection and hopelessness whenever we are faced with negative situations that impede our momentum towards attaining our objectives in life. It is with this reaction with our flaws that often elicit false reasoning and mediocrity for our actions and therefore causing failures and ultimately, regrets.

It would take a very strong resolve for one to see failures and weaknesses in a different light much more accept it as a constructive element towards achieving one’s goal. Let’s face it, we often see faults and failures as bad signs or omen, that which grips our motivation and resolve at the point of contact. But we cannot eliminate it. We can never exclude it. To err is human. The best thing we can do is integrate it in our daily living and cultivate our strength with our weaknesses in mind.

According to Ed Smith, Author of the book 60 Seconds to Success, one has to practice success daily if they want to really succeed. He outlined that first you have to “decide what success is to you and never leave happiness out” with your definition. He then advised to “turn that into a plan, and then turn it into a goal. He also instructed to write those plans down for it is “more powerful” that way. Start and end your day with a positive note and work with what you have to attain it. He also guided that we should spend 3 minutes of gratitude in prayer every day.

Bottom Line: Success is not gauged by how wealthy, how powerful and how influential a person is. Neither is it appraised with the least of trials or failures. It should manifest with one’s happiness and sense of fulfillment; with gratitude, love and self-worth. For it is with positivity that it should thrive and with gratitude and not pride that it should be empowered with.

Sohail Pirzada E-mail: info@HomesBySohail.com

Realtor / CEO, Team Sohail                                                                        www.HomesBySohail.com

Luxury Homes International Member                                                       Direct: (817) 328-1477

Global Property Specialist                                                                            Cell: (609) 516-4138

Keller Williams Realty                                                                              Fax: (855) 295-2686

850 East State Highway 114, Southlake, TX 76092                               website:www.TeamSohail.com