Three steps to an easier home buying experience (Part II)

Are you in the market to purchase a house, but dreading dipping your feet into the water? In Part I of this two-part series, we discussed how to build your dream by beginning your research process on the Internet. Not only will this help you get the lay of the home buying land, but it can be done on your time frame, on your terms and without any drain on your gold-gilded gas tank.

Next, we recommended you document your findings. Keeping written record of the good, the to-be-desired and the wish-it-were of your housing trips will help you decide whether you need to keep looking or if you can narrow down your choices. Tracking the details will allow you to make an educated decision and save you from serious buyer's remorse.

Need help in keeping all this house information together? That is where we go to Step 3.

Step 3: Keep it together and share it online. You can take all of the information you have been gathering on the houses and share it with your real estate agent. Remember that most people have not tapped into their third eye, so if there are things you like and dislike about the houses you have seen with your agent, make sure to communicate it clearly. 

Aside from the obvious vehicle for communication, there may be times when you are unable to talk on the phone. So here is what we recommend. Create a document online of your house findings. This home buying checklist from HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) will do the trick.   

Here's how to create and share the document:

• View the document in HTML format.
• Save the document to your computer.
• Open up your Google Docs account (if you don't have one, read this).
• Upload your home buying checklist.
• Write the details of the house on your checklist.
• Share the document.

Next comes collaboration with your real estate agent. Google keeps it simple. 

Here's how:

• Save your document.
• Click the "Share" tab in the upper right hand corner.
• Type in the email address of your real estate agent in the box provided that says "Invite People."
• Click the "Invite Collaborators" button.
• Type a short message in the "Tell these people about the document" box.
• Click the "Send" button.

Once you have narrowed down the contestants, create a Google Spreadsheet for the finalists and collaborate with your agent to select a winner.

It's that simple. You now have the ingredients and the recipe for an easier home buying experience. 

Bon Appetit.

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read:

• Not all pre-approvals are created equal: what you need to know about pre-approval letters
• Should buying your first house be a long-term investment strategy? (Part I)
• Should buying your first house be a long-term investment strategy? (Part II)

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Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson