Spring home-buying guide: 6 ways to do it right

It's peak home-buying season. Even though buyers have a greater advantage than they've had in awhile, it's still easy to take a wrong, frustrating and costly turn. Here are six ways to make sure you don't.

Mortgage Rates
30 yr fixed 3.80%
15 yr fixed 3.20%
5/1 ARM 3.84%
30 yr refi 3.82%
15 yr refi 3.20%

Find personalized rates:
 

Rates provided by Bankrate.com.
Find a good real estate attorney
What they do: A lawyer can help you negotiate the real estate contract, and renegotiate it if a home inspection finds flaws or an appraisal deems the house less valuable than the sales price. A lawyer also represents your interests at the closing and does the lion's share of paperwork and coordination associated with it.

Why you might want one: Unlike most of the people involved in the purchase of a home, a real estate lawyer is dedicated to looking out for your interests at each stage. You don't need one technically, but the short-term savings of not hiring one may pale in comparison to the long-term costs of not negotiating the best deal or walking away from a bad one.

Where to find one: Ask for referrals from your local bar association, your real estate agent or your mortgage broker. Also, ask friends, colleagues and family whom they've had a good experience working with.

Cost: Varies by state and by amount of work required. Fee structures also vary (some lawyers charge by the hour, others by flat fee, some by both depending on the task) but a ballpark range for what a buyer may pay in total is $350 to $1,000, said Marjorie Bardwell, a real estate attorney at Chicago Title Insurance Company. In high-cost areas like New Jersey, you may pay as much as $1,500, said real estate attorney Stuart Lieberman.


Loan pre-approval

Buyer's agent

Real estate attorney

Written offer

House inspection

House appraisal
The good news: Rocky real estate markets mean home shoppers finally have the upper hand. (more)
National Association of Realtors cuts 2007 forecast; would mark first drop since it began tracking values in 1968. (more)
Wondering how home prices got so high - and why they now have to fall? Here’s the story of what hit you: an amorality play in four acts. Money Magazine reports. (more)

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.