What To Ask Your Real Estate Agent When You've Found A Home You Love

Have you been looking for a home for quite some time and finally found one that you love? If so, you should ask your agent the following questions before making an offer.

How Long Has The Home Been Up For Sale?

One thing to find out is how long the home has been on the real estate market. This is important when it comes to making an offer because it will help you determine how much you should say you are willing to pay for the house. A home that has been on the market for a long time will likely not have any current offers and owners that are eager to sell, and you may be able to get away with a low offer compared to their asking price. However, a recently listed home with a lot of activity will have owners that are more willing to hold out and wait to see what kind of offers come in, resulting in needing to come in at list price or higher with your own offer. 

What Have Similar Homes Sold For?

As a buyer, you likely do not have a good idea what the real estate market is like and whether the price that the home is listed for is fair. That's why it helps to have your real estate agent look at recently sold homes in the area to get a better idea of what homes are selling for. Ideally, they'll want to find a similar home that recently sold, which is as close to identical as possible in terms of location, square footage, layout, and even construction material. This will help let you know if the home is overpriced, priced fairly, or a deal that you need to jump on immediately. 

Are There Any Disclosures?

It is possible that the seller has disclosures about the home that you need to be made aware of since they will typically result in additional expenses to fix things after you move in. For example, there can be disclosures about having lead paint in the home that you want to remove or about known foundation damage that needs to be repaired. If you know these disclosures upfront, you can decide to move forward with making an offer on the home or simply walk away and look for something different. Disclosures can help prevent you from wasting time on a home you do not want.