Greg Snow - Southwest Florida Real Estate Expert provides real estate services to Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Islands

 Long before you begin an in depth search for your home, you should sit down with a mortgage broker or lender and get pre-qualified. This will provide insight on the price range to seek in your home search. How much you qualify for and how much home you can afford. Upon discovery of the numbers, other details may reveal themselves, like if you improve your credit score, you are eligible for better interest rate considerations or paying down some outstanding debt allows for a larger home price consideration. In a sense, you have become "armed and dangerous" and in charge of your real estate scene. Once you are satisfied you have made yourself up to be the most desirable buyer for any seller locally, you can search for the One.

 Needs and wants in tow with you, the home search often begins with a neighborhood you are generally familiar with and provides many of the qualities that are appealing. Spend time there at different times of the day (night?), attend open houses, seek out town and neighborhood info on the Internet, research current selling prices and recent solds, and interview a skilled local realtor. Generally, the realtor is paid by the seller, so a good Realtor costs nothing, but can save you thousands of dollars.

To be continued