Buying a Home Whether you've spent years saving and preparing to buy a home, or you're unsure if you can afford it, the questions surrounding home buying can feel endless. You can find the answers - and peace of mind - by working with REMAX, the industry leader in experience and service. Here are some tips to help you become your own landlord through home buying. Hire a real estate professional. An important first step is selecting a home buying professional to help you find your dream home and fine-tune your financial expectations. Working with a buyer agent is worth consideration because he or she is legally responsible for representing the buyer's interest in a real estate transaction. Before making a decision, however, have a REALTOR® explain the pros and cons of using a buyer agent versus a dual agent. Your REMAX Associate can guide you through every step of home buying. Shop for mortgage rates and terms. A difference of even half a percentage point can mean a considerable savings over the life of a loan. For example, the difference in the monthly payment on a $100,000 mortgage at 8 percent vs. 7.5 percent is about $35 per month. Over 30 years, that's $12,600. Prequalify for a loan. Also early on, you'll want to get prequalified for a mortgage loan, which determines how much you can afford. It allows you to move swiftly when you find the right home, especially when there are other interested buyers. It also indicates to the seller that you are serious about home buying and can afford to buy the property. Outline what you want. The next step in home buying is to create a realistic idea of the property you'd like to buy. What features are most important to you? Make two lists: one of the items you can't live without and one of the features you would enjoy. Refine the lists as you house-hunt. It is also helpful to search online to see what is currently available on the market. Your real estate professional can then show you houses that meet your expectations. Visit properties. Now you're ready to visit houses. Ask your REMAX Associate to help in your home buying process by arranging showings. Be sure to keep track of the properties you've seen. Each time you venture out to see more properties, revisit your notes to immediately eliminate any that clearly do not meet your standards. Know the features that help or hurt resale. In some areas, a swimming pool actually detracts from a home's value and makes it harder to sell. In neighborhoods with two-car, attached garages, a single-car or detached garage may affect the home buying prospects and future value. Your REMAX professional can point out features that hurt or help resale value. Rate the houses you tour. After touring each home, write down what you liked and didn't like. Develop a rating system that will help narrow the home buying field. For example, pick the house you like best on day one and compare all other houses to it. When you find a better one, use the new favorite as the standard. Avoid trying to track more than four top choices at any given time since this can quickly become overwhelming. Make an offer. Once you've pinpointed your dream house, it's time to get serious about the financial and contractual side of the purchase. Let your REMAX Associate guide you through this sensitive home buying process. Because you and the seller have different goals, rely on your REMAX agent's experience and expertise to bring order and calm to the process - and help both parties reach a favorable outcome. Arrange for a home inspection. After your offer is accepted, set up a home inspection. It's common to find problems, including leaky roofs, cracked walls, insect infestations and foundation problems. Your real estate professional can help find a reputable inspector, and will negotiate to get you the most for your money once the inspector's report is final. If you negotiate repairs as part of the purchase, ask for a "walk through" before finalizing the home buying paperwork. Ask your real estate expert about home protection plans, which may save you money in the near future.

FREE HOME SEARCH! It is easy to locate Ventura homes that match your search criteria. We can do this because you get to access one of the area's largest inventory of property listings. There is not cost or obligation for this. It's a free service. To recieve updated listings in your area, just send us your e-mail address, price range, number of bedrooms & bathrooms, and area that your looking in. And we will sign you up with the Ventura MLS and e-mails will be automaticly sent out to you as soon as any agent list a property in the area that you are looking in. Thank you for filling out the form below. The field marked with (*) are required fields. The fields marked with (*) are required fields. * How many bedrooms?  * required * How many Bathrooms?  * required * What Area in Ventura County? (Ventura, Oxnard, Ojai, Camarillo, Santa Paula etc...)  * required * Are you looking for Homes, Condos, Commercial, or Land?  * required * Email Address  * required   Give any other information you would like on the type of property that you are looking for! (This is not required   Check "YES" For Bank Owned Properties Only! Yes No

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TOP INTERNATIONAL SOCCER STARS ON DISPLAY LOCALLY AT VENTURA COUNTY FUSION'S WINTER EXHIBITIONS  Local soccer families will get a chance to see international soccer stars playing right on their own doorstep when Ventura County Fusion hosts Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer and GAIS of the Swedish First Division in a series of public exhibition games at Buena High School, Ventura, in February 2009. USA internationals Kasey Keller (the most capped goalkeeper in US history), Clint Mathis and Robbie Findley, and Swedish captain Freddie Ljunberg, are among the top professional stars expected to play.  Keller and Ljunberg are with MLS expansion team Seattle Sounders and Mathis and Findley are with Real Salt Lake.  Ljunberg, a former Calvin Klein underwear model who appeared in three World Cups, is ranked as the 11th greatest player in the history of Arsenal FC (England) where he played for 9 years, winning two Premier League titles, three FA Cup Finals and a European Championship runners-up medal. In addition to top-named stars, the visiting MLS clubs bring a host of exciting young talent with local connections bidding for starting places in next season's rosters.  Among them is Jean Alexandre, the former Ventura County Fusion player that was the #12 overall draft pick by Real Salt Lake in the recent 2009 MLS Super Draft and Chris Seitz, the former Thousand Oaks High School star and USA u-23 international goalkeeper starting his second MLS season. Real Salt Lake, the 2008 MLS semi-finalists, will be enjoying their second consecutive year of winter training in Ventura as guests of Ventura County Fusion from February 2nd-14th in preparation for the new MLS season beginning in March 2009.   The brand new franchise of Seattle Sounders, partly owned by Drew Carey and coached by the experienced Sigi Schmid, will be in town Feb 2 - 15 preparing for their first ever MLS season and GAIS, four time Swedish champions, will make camp from Feb 6th -19th.  Fusion will be providing players for the professionals' private training scrimmages as well as the exhibition games open to the public, giving local players a fantastic opportunity to pit themselves against the best.  Last year, Fusion defeated MLS Champions Columbus Crew 1-0 before 1,500 spectators at Buena's Bulldog Stadium on a goal by Oxnard College forward Sergio Garcia.