Chicago First Time Home Buyer Tips

As we quickly approach the Spring, the time to plan for your new move is now. Our Chicago First Time Home Buyer Tips Guide is everything you need to get started with confidence.

Find The Right Agent

Finding the right agent for your needs is a crucial first step in our Chicago first time home buyer guide. When shopping for agents, you want an experienced realtor that can answer any first-time buyer questions you have and that you can get along with well. You want to look for an agent that is familiar with the areas you are searching in - some inside knowledge of certain neighborhoods is invaluable in the home search process. Going to some larger reality sites such as Zillow or Trulia will automatically match you with an agent based on your search - useful but very impersonal.

This is where having a trusted network or community of people you can turn to for recommendations will pay off. Having someone's trusted word on an agent's experience and more importantly, goodwill & ethics will be invaluable in this process for a Chicago first time home buyer. Facebook neighborhood groups are a great place to start if you don't have many contacts in the area you are looking into - many business leaders and community organizers discuss things here and can give some great recommendations.

Our expert team at Pearson Realty Group of over 80 Chicagoland agents on staff is ready to help you through every step of the home buying process. Search all properties for sale on our buyer's search page and feel free to call us anytime, we have agents involved in all neighborhoods of the city and can find your dream home today!

Don't Be Afraid To Ask Questions

There are no stupid questions, especially when it comes to purchasing your first home. Remember, this is your realtor's job - they studied the laws, they have the knowledge, and the know-how to get answers they don't have. When you're a Chicago first-time home buyer you can't be timid or nervous to ask redundant or simple questions, this is your hard-earned money and you deserve the best service when searching for such a serious purchase.

Put some time aside, write down a list of any questions that you think of, and make sure you are confident in the answers you receive. The Washington Post put together 8 important — and overlooked — questions to ask before buying a home, this is a great jumping-off point for brainstorming ideas for your specific property. Inquiring about the quality of schools, noise levels, monthly appliance/utility cost, traffic levels, are more than appropriate and expected behavior with serious buyers. 

A common complaint about bad agents is the inability or unwillingness to answer perceived "dumb" questions. This leads to confusion, distrust, and questioning the entire purchase process - an agent can either provide or take all the confidence in the deal for you. So very much like our advice to find the right agent, don't be afraid to leave an agent that isn't working out for you. While there are many red flags for dropping an agent, inability/refusal to provide properly requested information might be the largest one to look for.

Take Your Time

Excitement tends to take over many first-time home buyers when seeing properties in person. While these feelings are absolutely warranted, it's important to keep your composure and not rush into things. This applies equally to every part of the home buying process. Revisiting properties, getting second opinions, and evaluating your agent's performance are just a few things you should spend some time on before pulling the trigger on any home.

Pre-Approved Is Better Than Pre-Qualified

While both of these are beneficial in planning your expenses and financial expectations for your first home purchase, they are drastically different in practice. A pre-approved loan essentially acts as a realistic but hypothetical loan process - it is all potential not guaranteed. You are provided with a lender, a summary of your financials, and an estimate on what you could potentially borrow. This is usually not preferred by sellers as it does not give them as much confidence in comparison that you will be able to complete the purchase.

On the other hand, a pre-qualified loan is on the opposite end of the spectrum. This process ends in you having a definitive loan amount guaranteed by a future lender. This is done with a hard credit check, a deep look at your financials, and a more in-depth application that covers much more than a pre-approved loan. The clear advantage of a pre-approval loan is that you are able to begin your home search with more confidence and realistic expectations. Another big difference is that pre-approval takes significantly longer than pre-qualified, although doing so will save you an indefinite amount of time, effort, and stress in the future.

Here at Person Realty Group, we have built up relationships with some extremely trustworthy lenders and services that make this process easy on you. Contact us today to speak to someone about finding your dream home today!

Check out the FULL guide for Chicago First Time Home Buyers at our sister company Pearson Realty Group!

Getting Ready for New Tenants

Even after the numerous tasks for listing a property have been completed there is still work to be done is order to be fully prepared for new tenants at your rental property. In order to properly welcome the new tenants there are a few things that should be considered.

The Search for a Tenants

First, screening the possible tenants. This can be a little awkward at times, but is extremely important because you want to find serious tenants that will not cause any issues with the property. The primary thing to do is to ask questions to determine how motivated the potential tenants are. People that are looking to move in the next few days or even the next day indicate that they are not good planners and are probably not the type of tenants you want. On the other hands, tenants that are looking to move in several months should also be avoided as they are not immediately motivated to begin renting. There is a sweet spot in between the distant future and the next day that you as the property manager need to determine. A good place to start to find that time frame is to check the potential tenants credit, background, and criminal records. No evictions, steady work, and a clean criminal record usually indicate a good tenant.

The next step after a tenant has been selected is to collect the first month’s rent upfront and a security deposit. From there the following measure is the leasing agreement. This is the best way to express rules for the property such as: whether or not smoking is okay, the amount of roommates that can be living there at any given time, or any specifics on how rent payments should be made.

Welcoming the Tenants

Once all the technical arrangements are made the final step in the process is creating a welcoming environment for the tenants. Flowers or a gift basket is a nice gesture. Another option as a welcome gift could be household essentials such as paper towels or bottled water; since moving can be frustrating, these little items are sometimes over looked. New tenants typically really appreciate the thought of a gift in general. An exceptionally nice gesture would be a nice bottle of wine or craft beer from a local shop in the neighborhood to show that the new tenants are welcome to the neighborhood.

Choosing The Right Salt This Winter

With the winter season approaching fast, we know that Chicago winters can be very unpredictable when it comes to winter weather.  Buildings and Associations should be preparing to get good pricing on snow removal and salt before the snow and cold sneak up on you.

An important decision for buildings every year is what kind of de-icer to use for the season.  Common walkways must be de-iced to ensure the safety and comfort of walking around your property.  Here are some comparisons of different snow-melting salt options PRG Management has reviewed to help you decide on property management in Chicago this winter.

·         Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Chloride

o   Price scale: Medium

o   Fast acting and effective alternative to the commonly used rock salt.  Mostly safe for grass if used minimally to moderately.  Melts to -25 degrees F.

·         Magnesium Chloride

o   Price scale: Medium

o   Fast acting and effective alternative to the commonly used rock salt.  Mostly safe for grass if used minimally to moderately.  Melts to -13 degrees F, and has a higher chance of damaging asphalt or sidewalks.

·         Potassium Chloride

o   Price Scale: High

o   Safest Pet and Garden friendly alternative.  Melts to -25 degrees F.

·         Sodium Chloride/Rock Salt

o   Price Scale: Low

o   Basic rock salt.  Extremely cheap but toxic to pets, damages surfaces, and not garden-friendly.

·         Metal and stairs

o   Metal and stairs can be a hassle.  There are several options for melting ice on metal stairs to minimize, such as Urea based de-icers or using a brine (liquid de-icer) solution.  Another solution would be to use Sand.  Sand is not a de-icer, but if you shovel beforehand, sand can provide traction for walking on the stairs along with preventing new ice from forming on top of it.

These are the most common types of de-icer that we at PRG Property Management have worked with in the past.  As a premier Property Management company in Chicago, we are more than happy to help your building manage any upcoming winter woes to ensure a safe environment for everyone!