Best Fall Home Buying Tips

While it is true that the home buying market is always open, there are marketplace trends that vary along with the season. Spring is the busiest time of the year for home buyers, with fall in a close second place. The reason for this is that there are some advantages to buying a home in autumn: year-end tax breaks, wide selection of home to choose from and great weather for moving. Here are some of the best fall home buying tips.

Know your market for fall– It is important that you understand that various housing markets react differently during the fall months. It all depends on what part of the country you live in and your real estate agent can best tell you the current market trends.

Understand there is negotiating room– If there was a home that you saw in the middle of summer that you were interested in and it is still on the market, you may have a chance at negotiating. This is the time of the year that home sellers may come down on their price, if the home has been for sale for a few months.

Get pre-approved first, then house hunt– While you have probably ran some numbers by now and know how much you are able to afford for your monthly mortgage, you may not be qualified to borrow the amount of money you want. The last thing you want is to find your dream home and then discover that you can’t get the financing needed to buy it. Also, it is best to have your preapproval with you when you are house hunting on the weekends since most mortgage brokers are not in the office during this time.

Perform a fall maintenance check– There is no better time that fall to discover how well the homeowner has taken care of the property. If you are checking out the house on a cool day, this will let you see if the home has any drafts. If it is raining outside, you can check to see how well the rain gutters are working. You want to know whether or not the fireplace has been properly maintained too.