5 Tips on Buying a House in Tampa Bay, Florida
Are you planning on buying a house in Pinellas, Florida, or the surrounding area but aren’t sure where to start? Moving to a new area is stressful enough. But finding the perfect house for your needs and budget on top of that can be overwhelming.
At Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Yamil & Keith Winn, we believe in educating all our clients on how to navigate the home buying process. Putting your trust in us as your go-to source for real estate knowledge is not something we take lightly.
We believe in serving big and giving back. That’s why our team of professional Pinellas real estate experts has created this in-depth guide to buying a house in Pinellas, Florida.
The tips in this post are simple to understand, reducing the complexity of the real estate process for home buyers of any experience level.
1. Interview Real Estate Agents in Pinellas, Florida
The first step to buying a house in Pinellas, Florida, is finding the best real estate agent.
Every real estate agent says they can find you the home of your dreams for the lowest possible price. However, not every agent is the same– not all of them have the experience, network, industry connections, and tools necessary to deliver on their promises.
When hunting for realtors, there are three things you should ask them about, regardless of their experience level:
- Track record, numbers, and data
- Customer service skills
- Reviews and testimonials from past clients
Find an agent who listens more than they talk. They should interview you and ask you questions to get to know you and your needs better– not talk about themselves or their business.
Your real estate agent should see you as a human being, not just another client.
Once you’ve found an agent you like, you need to look into their numbers. Evaluate statistics like:
- How many clients they’ve worked with
- How much, on average, they negotiate down the sale price of the home
- How fast, on average, they help buyers find their perfect home
You should also ask what strategies the agent will use to match you with a home, their preferred method of communication, what their communication process is like, and whether they’re a full-time or part-time agent.
Find a Real Estate Agent Who Makes the Process Easy
There’s a reason why Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Yamil & Keith Winn is an award-winning real estate agency in Pinellas, Florida. We’re the best choice you can make for buying a house in the area, and we have the data to back it up.
Our trusted agents will guide you through the entire home buying process, and we have access to thousands of homes for sale in the area.
My team of professional agents and I have extensive experience working with homebuyers like you over the years. In addition, our databases include access to off-market homes that other agents may not know about.
We give our clients access to these homes and more through our website search feature.
With this tool, you can easily find the type of home you’re looking for. To get started, enter a city, address, zip code, or MLS ID.
You’ll be matched with a list of available homes for sale in the area, which you can then filter through based on:
- Price
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms
- Dates listed
- Square footage
- Amount of acreage
In addition, if you’re looking for specific features like a pool, fenced-in yard, or detached garage, our search filters can help you find homes that include them.
Your satisfaction is our number one priority, and you can rest assured we’ll always put you first.
If you want to learn more about working with us to buy the perfect home, give us a call at 727-353-6636 or contact us here.
2. Research Different Neighborhoods
After you find the perfect real estate agent, what should you do next? The second step to buying a house in Pinellas, Florida, is thoroughly researching the neighborhoods you’re considering moving into.
Either spend some time researching online or drive through the area in person. Take note of things like schools, restaurants, grocery stores, malls, parks, and entertainment venues.
Our website search tool can help you here, too– every listing in our database comes with a map of the surrounding area. For more detailed information about the greater Pinellas area, you can request one of our Relocation Guides.
We’ve lived and worked in the area for years, so we have all the insider knowledge you need to decide which community is the best fit for you.
3. If You’re Renting, Consider Buying a House in Pinellas, Florida Instead
Renting an apartment or home can be frustrating. You don’t truly own your home, and you have to ask your landlord to make any significant changes to the property.
You shouldn’t put your hard-earned dollars into someone else’s pockets. That’s why our real estate team wants to help you buy your first home.
We’ve created a guide specifically with renters in mind. This report is called How To Stop Paying Rent and Own Your Own Home, and it contains valuable information for anyone wanting to learn how to transition from renting to owning a home.
It also contains information on how to get financially prepared for homeownership. No matter how long you’ve been renting, we’ll help you learn how to save up for your down payment.
But if you’re a first-time home buyer, you may qualify for financial assistance programs. These programs can help you pay little to no down payment as a first time home buyer.
Zero Down Properties are a great way to get more people into the housing market. To learn more about these types of programs, read our guide on How to Buy a Home With Little Or No Money Down.
We also offer a free mortgage calculator, so you can determine your house buying budget and figure out how much you can afford.
4. Work with an Agent who Can Give You Access to Off-Market Homes
It’s estimated that as much as 50 percent of homes sold in 2021 were purchased outside the MLS. This includes homes like company-owned homes and bank foreclosures.
This means that if you’re searching for homes online, you’ll miss out on half the available homes in the area.
In addition, going after off-market homes means fewer negotiations and bidding wars with other buyers.
Not every agent has a database that includes these types of off-market homes, which means you’re missing out on some great deals.
Find an agent who can give you priority access to these types of homes. Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Yamil & Keith Winn offers buyer clients our Priority Access List!
This list works similarly to our website search tool. All you need to do is input your search criteria, and you’ll be matched with off-market homes that fit what you’re looking for.
These are homes that can’t be found on popular sites like Zillow®, Trulia®, and Redfin®.
Save time browsing the internet and beat other buyers to these listings. Our database of off-market homes is free and comes with no obligation to work with us to buy a home.
5. Review Resources and Market Reports For Home Buyers
You can find all sorts of resources out there for home buyers, but not all of them are helpful or relevant to your local area.
Turn to your real estate agent to find resources that are tailored to your situation. They have the knowledge and experience necessary to guide you through the housing market and the unique conditions of the community you’re looking to buy a home in.
At Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Yamil & Keith Winn has created buyer’s resources geared specifically towards those interested in buying a house in Pinellas, Florida, or the surrounding area.
Our articles cover topics such as:
- Money-saving tips
- First-time home buyer guide
- Household safety checklists
- Home improvement ideas
- Home inspection advice
- Real estate insider secrets to help you navigate the market
- How to get the best financing rates
- Huge homebuyer mistakes to avoid.
Aside from articles, we offer in-depth reports that dive deep into the housing market and what it means for you as a homebuyer.
These include guides on:
- Distress Sales/Bank Foreclosures Hotlist
- Find Out What The Home Down The House Down the Street Sold For!
- What Should You Know Before Investing In Real Estate?
- What Should I Know Before Moving Into A Newly Built Home?
If you’re planning on buying a house in Pinellas, Florida, it’s important to read home buyer resources tailored to the area. While general homebuyer guides will help you, too, having information specific to your desired location will set you up for success.
Our 4 Buyer’s Guarantees
Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Yamil & Keith Winn is unique because we offer four buyer’s guarantees. These guarantees are designed to give our home buyer clients peace of mind when buying a house in Pinellas, Florida.
1. Buyer Cancellation Guarantee
Our Buyer Cancellation Guarantee gives you the right to cancel your listing agreement with us in the unlikely event you’re unsatisfied with our services. You’re free to stop working with us any time before making an offer on a home.
Essentially, we’re so confident in our customer service skills and ability to find you the perfect home, that we give you a chance to back out of our deal if you feel we don’t live up to our promise.
Our Buyer Cancellation Guarantee comes with no penalties or obligations for terminating your listing agreement with us.
We want all our clients to feel secure in their decision to work with us, and we want the process to be as risk-free as possible.
We understand that signing any contract is a risk, especially when it comes to real estate, where many agents promise you things they can’t deliver on.
In fact, 72% of home buyers are unhappy with their real estate agent, even after the purchase of the home was successful.
Typical agents often lock their clients into contracts with lengthy broker protection periods and high cancellation fees.
Our real estate team believes differently. We want you to feel confident about choosing us. That’s why we’re one of the only real estate teams in the Ocala, Florida, area to offer you a risk-free home buyer program and the ability to cancel your agreement with us.
To learn more about our Buyer Cancellation Guarantee, give us a call at 727-353-6636.
2. Buyer Protection Plan Guarantee
Another guarantee we offer our buyer clients is our Exclusive Buyer Protection Plan.
With this guarantee, you have the ability to return your home if you decide you’re not satisfied with it. How is it possible to return a purchase as significant as a home?
If you’re unhappy with your choice for whatever reason, our real estate team will buy it back from you anytime within 24 months of the purchase date and sell it at no extra cost to you.
We understand that buying a home is a huge decision and that sometimes you don’t really know whether the home is a good fit until you spend some time living in it.
We don’t want you to feel stuck with your choice in the event it doesn’t turn out to be your dream home after all.
However, we’re so confident that our database and marketing systems can help you find the perfect home the first time around.
Most agents disappear after the closing contract is signed and move on to their next client. But not us.
Our Exclusive Buyer Protection Plan is the fallback plan you need to eliminate your stress and feel confident in your new home.
* Buyer must be a VIP buyer client to receive a protection plan.
3. Covid-19 Buyer Protection Plan Guarantee
Our Covid-19 Buyer Protection Plan guarantee was created to protect our clients from the effects of Covid-19.
Unfortunately, the ramifications of the global pandemic are still being felt, whether you or a loved one has gotten sick or lost a job.
If you’ve lost a job or are struggling through financial hardship, the last thing you want to worry about is buying a house. That’s why we want to make buying a house in Ocala, Florida, as stress-free as possible.
With this guarantee, we’ll buy back your home and sell it for free if you find yourself facing financial difficulties as a result of COVID-19.
*Buyer must be an Exclusive VIP buyer client to receive Covid-19 buyer protection plan.
4. “Your Home Sold or I’ll Buy It Back” Guarantee
Are you a homebuyer trying to purchase a new home while also selling your old one? Homeowners in this situation face the classic dilemma of timing the purchase and sale just right so that they don’t end up owning two homes at once. Or worse, no homes at all.
Our “Your Home Sold or I’ll Buy It Back” guarantee was created with these homeowners in mind.
We want to eliminate the risk for anyone buying and selling at the same time.
With this guarantee, we promise that your home will sell. If not, we’ll purchase it ourselves.
How does it work? When you hire us to help sell your home we’ll do a free comparative market analysis to determine an accurate market value for it. Then, we’ll both come to an agreement on a fair asking price.
That price will become your guaranteed price– in other words, the price we’ll pay to buy it back from you in the event it doesn’t sell in a specified time frame, which we’ll also agree upon.
This acts as an insurance policy that will protect you no matter what happens. If you get a better offer from another buyer, you get to go with that price. But if you don’t find a buyer in time, you can relax knowing that we’ll pay the agreed-upon price.
Learn more about our “Your Home Sold Guaranteed or I’ll Buy it Back” Guarantee
* Scott Coldwell and the home seller must agree on the price and possession date.
Reach Out to Us to Start Buying a House in Pinellas, Florida, Today!
Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Yamil & Keith Winn has years of serving Pinellas, Florida, and the surrounding area. We’ve helped thousands of people find their dream home– we know we can do the same for you, too. Meet the team here.
Our number one priority is providing all our clients with the highest level of service and an easy, stress-free buying experience– and we’re 100% committed to this pledge.
Check out just some of our reviews here.
Want to learn more about our buyer’s guarantees and what it’s like working with us? For more information, give us a call at 727-353-6636 or send us an email at keithwinn@winnteamrealtors.com / yamilwinn@winnteamrealtors.com. You can also simply fill out the form below for more information.
Get ready to start packing! We look forward to helping you with your move.
