Buying Roadmap :: Salt Lake City Real Estate

Step 5 :: Shop for a Home

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable stages in the process, shopping for a home is filled with dreams and possibilities. Now, the trick is to find just the “right” one!

Time to Go Shopping
Now that you’ve done your homework, it's time to go shopping. Your checklist of the reasons why you want to buy a home will keep you focused on homes that will meet your needs. Your lender’s pre-approval letter will keep you focused on homes you can afford.

Getting to Know the Salt Lake City Neighborhoods
You may want to drive by a number of Salt Lake City homes to become familiar with the neighborhoods and what your money will buy. We can take you on a guided tour of homes in several areas. This gives us a chance to really understand what you like and don’t like. Or, if you’re the adventurous sort and already know the areas well, we can give you a list of suitable homes to drive by along with a map.

Selecting Homes and Making Appointments
Select the top few homes and have your Salt Lake City real estate agent make appointments to go inside. We look at hundreds of homes each year, so we can help you weigh the features and strengths, as well as point out the drawbacks or weaknesses of each home. Typically we can provide you with a printed fact sheet (from the Salt Lake City MLS) for each home, including pictures. This will help you keep track of the homes you’ve seen, what you liked and didn’t like. We’re happy to be your sounding board to compare and contrast your favorite homes to help you decide which home is right for you. We can also offer an opinion as to potential long term re-sale value, based on neighborhood trends. We consider ourselves counselors, investigators or consultants more than salespeople. We make our clients aware of all the positive and negative factors regarding a property.

Make an Offer
Use our knowledge of the market to guide your offering price. We can tell you what similar homes sold for, and we will help you write an offer that is likely to be accepted by the seller. Some Salt Lake City homes are listed at a price that may be lower or higher than the price at which it will actually sell. From our experience, we can help you understand the possible costs for any deferred maintenance and repairs before you decide to make an offer. We can also help you select a title insurance company to ensure you purchase “clear” title to the property. We’ll help you put in safeguards to your purchase offer, such as loan contingencies and physical inspection contingencies. Since this can be an emotional situation, it is especially important to have your Salt Lake City Realtor negotiate on your behalf with the seller.