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Real estate has historically been a solid way to build equity, but a downturn in the economy has diminished home values. Prospective buyers have also discovered lending institutions are less likely to extend credit without at least a 20% downpayment. This makes purchasing real estate more difficult for the average buyer.

Ask your real estate agent for referrals from their latest sales. Most realtors will be more than happy to share the names of recent clients whom you can talk to when evaluating the merits of the agent. These clients can give you insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the agent.

If you are thinking of buying a home, saving money now is the key. Most people begin to talk about buying a home well before they actually make the purchase. This is the opportune time to put away money to reach your down payment goal which is typically going to be about 20 percent of the home cost.

Consider moving to a new location. Parts of the country are more expensive to live than others. If you live in a particularly costly location, consider moving to someplace that has a lower cost of living. You will get more bang for your buck and be more financially secure in the future.

If you want to save money, think about buying a home that needs a lot of repairs. The bad condition of a place makes its value go down significantly, so much that it might be interesting for you to pay for the repairs yourself. And perhaps you can even do part of the https://twitter.com/JohnHermanAgent house with three to four bedrooms and at least, two bathrooms. These are the most popular features sought by home buyers. Houses that are much smaller or larger than this, attract less buyers and take longer to sell.

Buying real estate is not a thing to be taken lightly, and the unseasoned home buyer is not aware of the many caveats related to the experience. The advice offered in this article was provided for the real estate buyer so that they might avoid some of the pitfalls related to their real estate purchase so they may truly experience the joy that is buying a house.