Advice for First Time Home Buyers in Bucks County

Selling your home? Get a free home value report Buying a home? Search all homes for sale

Today we have our buyer’s agent with us and he will be speaking about some things that first-time buyers in Bucks County should know. He will also speak about some things to avoid if you are a first time buyer in Bucks County.

For starters, buyers should know that lenders are a little more lenient than expected. You can qualify for a loan with a credit score just above 600. You don’t need an 850 score and 20% down to qualify for a loan. All you really need to put down for a $200,000 home is $8,000 to $10,000. It’s important to recognize that you don’t need a fortune to get into a home. However, it’s important to know your budget and not overexert yourself financially. Purchase something that you can comfortably afford.

"Get pre-approved to find out what you can afford to purchase."

As far as inspections go, we recommend that every single client has one performed on their prospective home. Even newly-built homes will have problems, so it is always a good idea to get yours inspected. It is well worth the few hundred dollars you spend on the inspection. You don’t want to buy a home and then find out that you need a new roof.

We also like to educate our buyers on the tax benefits of buying a home. You can save a few thousand dollars every year from mortgage interest write-offs. It’s okay to spend more monthly on a home than a rental because of this tax difference, but many people simply don’t understand this.

If you have any further questions about buying a home in Bucks County, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to speaking with you!

Benefits of Working with Our Buyer’s Agents

Selling your home? Get a free home value report Buying a home? Search all homes for sale

I’m happy to be joined by Brent Parsons today, who is a buyer’s agent on our team here in Bucks & Montgomery County. We’re a buyer-centric team, meaning we’re very concerned with taking great care of our buyers from first timers to those who are downsizing.

We work with a lot of first-time buyers and just a lot of buyers in general. My goal is to satisfy any individual buyer’s exact goals. Right out of the gate, we align ourselves and make sure we’re a good fit for each other. Usually this happens on the weekends or at night, for your convenience.

We’ll get together and formalize the partnership. In fact, I spend so much time with a lot of clients that we become good friends. After we’ve formalized the partnership, then we’re on to looking at homes. We communicate about what’s important to you; school district, is price an absolute factor, are you pre-approved, the kind of things to make sure we’re prepared. It’s an ongoing process.

"We’ll get together and formalize a partnership."

We’re also going to be very aggressive. We’ll look at the market every day and I’m personally on the MLS twice a day looking for available homes for my clients.

I find that communication is the most important thing. My clients always have an open line of communication, whether that’s emailing, texting, or Facebook, and we’ve also got an awesome home search site to familiarize yourself with the market.

It’s full-time for me, I take it very seriously, and I have a great time doing it, and I expect the same approach from my buyers. I’m willing to sacrifice for my clients and I think they have an advantage because of that.

We’d love to talk with you about your buying situation, so feel free to reach out via phone call or email.

We fight for our clients in Bucks County

Selling your home? Get a free home value report Buying a home? Search all homes for sale

Today we have Tim Connelly with us, and he is a certified Negotiation Expert on our team. He handles many of our negotiations, and he is always fighting in the best interests of our clients.

Tim notes that a negotiation is only a discussion aimed at coming to an agreement. This is like when you’re trying to get your kids to eat their vegetables. You make a compromise that they can have dessert once they eat their vegetables, and that is the negotiation right there. Everyone negotiates multiple times a day without realizing it.

There are different kinds of negotiators as well. A competitive negotiator would be reminiscent of a Donald Trump-type character. They will do anything to win, and this is unnerving for most people, but Tim knows how to handle these types of people.

"Tim wears different hats depending on who he is negotiating for."

A collaborative negotiator is one that most people enjoy. This person understands that when something is given, another thing needs to be offered in return. This is the ideal negotiator if you want a smooth and stress-free transaction.

A compliant negotiator is someone that will do anything to avoid conflict. This person simply wants to be liked, and although this may seem like a bad fit for a negotiator, it’s sometimes necessary to wear this mask.

Tim interchanges between these three types of negotiators for our clients in order to get them the best deal possible. If you would like to continue this discussion, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!