The purchase of a home might be one of the best investments that you ever make.  It might not seem like it because of the recent housing crisis and the news of so many foreclosures but in fact this presents a good climate for buyers.  It is hard to imagine that property values will go down any more than they have and it is fairly easy to imagine that they will eventually rebound.

If you have a mortgage that you can comfortably manage, real estate can be an excellent investment over time.  Values may fluctuate, but unlike shares in a company that can go completely bankrupt your property will always be there.  If you can ride out the hard times then it can represent one of the most solid ways to use your money.

If you’re planning on purchasing property at some point in the future, one of the best things that you can do is start to understand and clean up your credit score.  You can get credit reports for free if you are willing to wait for them to be sent in the mail.  It only takes a couple of weeks and you can do this periodically without paying any money.  It is also possible for a small fee to get your credit report sent to you instantly.

Too many people make the mistake of not asking for their credit report because they pay their bills on time and they believe their credit score will be very good.  The problem is that there are often things on your credit report that you were not aware of.  It is possible to challenge these things and sometimes you can get them taken off.  It can pay huge dividends in the long run, particularly if your improved credit score allows you to get a better interest rate on a home loan.

Next, you need to learn a little bit about mortgages.  You need to know what your debt to income ratio is and in order to do this you have to create scenarios based on a home value that you can afford.  Given your income, you can figure out how much you can borrow.  It is still not wise in most cases to borrow as much as you can; that is how so many people ended up with the difficulties that they now have.

Because of the financial problems that many people have, valuable properties are now on the market for much less than they were purchased for.  Acquaint yourself with a good real estate agent that has knowledge of these foreclosed properties and can talk to you about things like short sales.  They should be able to negotiate effectively on your behalf and be familiar with the area where you want to buy.

More Articles by this author – Real Estate Agent

If you are not familiar with the concept of a short sale it represents a unique opportunity for some buyers to pick up a property at an excellent price.  Although it means you can get a good deal, there are factors that make a short sale a little more difficult and you will need to do your due diligence in order to find the right transaction and make it happen.

In the simplest terms, a short sale occurs when a home owner wishes to avoid a foreclosure and makes a deal with the lending institution to sell the property for less than the balance of the outstanding mortgage.  It may seem odd that the lender would wish to do this but they can often spend much more in legal fees on a foreclosure than they would hope to recoup from a short sale.  The motivation for the homeowner is clear, and that is that they can get out from under a crippling mortgage and not do as much damage to their credit rating as a foreclosure would.

When it comes to buying a property that is a short sale, the transaction becomes more complicated because there will be numerous approvals that need to be made.  The main issue is with the bank or lender and the problem is often that they can take a lot of time to give the approval.  It is also possible that they do not accept the terms of the sale and in the end even though the seller is willing at a certain price, the deal does not go through.

If you retain the services of a real estate agent in the Blue Ridge area and you are hoping that you can take advantage of this market it makes sense to find somebody who is well versed in the process of short selling properties.  They will be able to advise you whether or not deals are likely to go through and they may be better positioned to act as a liaison between the seller, the lending institution and the buyer.  If you have the patience to wait for the right property and you understand that not every deal will go through you may be able to purchase a property in this area for a price that is very reasonable.

More Articles by this author – Rental Cabin Manager