Why use a REALTOR(R) when buying a home?

As a buyer, it usually costs nothing to hire a real estate professional to help you find and purchase a home--your Realtor will likely get a portion of the commission the seller pays to his Realtor. When choosing an agent, get referrals from friends, relatives, and co-workers, and then interview as many agents as possible. Pick an agent that works in the neighborhoods you're interested in. Listen to your agent, but make your own decision.

Advice for First Time Home Buyers

1. Buy a home in a great school district. Many studies have shown that homes located in excellent school districts tend to appreciate faster than homes located in mediocre school districts.

2. Look for a good neighborhood with good housing stock, shopping, transportation options and a variety of recreational activities. Fortunately, good school districts tend to incorporate good neighborhoods.

3. Buy the smallest home on the block. If you can't afford the home of your dreams in the neighborhood of your dreams, it's often better to buy a smaller home that you can fix up in your dream neighborhood. If you find a small home on a block with bigger homes, and the small house has the same size lot, you'll probably be able to expand the house later as your income and budget expands. (Before you buy, check to make sure you don't run into future zoning problems with your local planning department.)

4. Buy a fixer-upper. The best way to build in value is to fix up a home in a neighborhood where most of the other homes are already fixed up and selling at a premium. Every day, people buy homes for, say, $150,000 on a block of $400,000 homes, spend another $150,000 to fix it up and end up with a profit of $100,000.

5. Buy a multi-unit property. If housing is scarce, it's a good bet that there's high demand in the rental market as well. If you find a property that has 2 to 4 units in it, you may be able to live in one of the units and use the income from the other unit to help pay the mortgage on the property. By leveraging your down payment dollars with rental income, you should be able to purchase a larger, more expensive property.