May 25th, 2016

Have you been thinking about it?  Buying your First home.  Or selling your home and moving somewhere larger... or smaller... or to a different area.  Or both.  Well there are several things that you can do to start moving yourself in that direction, even if you are not completely ready or if it feels like it is on the distant horizon.

Buying:
1. The first step is determining what you can afford.  Meet with a mortgage broker to find out where you stand financially.  You may be surprised.  If you don't have someone in mind that you want to work with, I am happy to make recommendations.  If you are not in Sonoma County, ask your local real estate agent for suggestions.  You can also do preliminary research on-line if you aren't ready to meet with someone.  Just be careful, a lot of sites will sell your information and you will get a million calls. 

2. Start saving your money for a down payment.  It is amazing what you can do with a little motivation! 
The more money you have saved, the more buying power you have and the better your purchase offer looks to a seller. 

3. Start educating yourself on the process.  This is a good article that details all of the steps involved in a home purchase.

Selling:
1. Find out how much your home is currently worth.  There are many sources online (trulia & zillow) to give you a general idea.  To get an accurate figure contact a local real estate agent who can analyze the current data in your specific area to determine value.  You want to determine how much equity  you have and when will be a good time to sell.

2. Begin to take a look at your house as a buyer would.  Are there areas in your yard that need to be cleaned up?  Is there anything noticeable that is broken?  What can you start doing now to freshen up your house to make it more saleable when the time comes?  Talk with a real estate agent to get ideas for projects that will add a lot of value without costing the bank!

Let me know if you have any questions!