If you are planning to become a first-time home buyer, the following information about what occurs during a real estate closing will keep you in-the-know.

• When you are ready to make an offer on a home, it is good to make an offer that is 10% less than the asking price. This will give you plenty of room to negotiate with the seller.
• When you make a formal offer, you normally must pay 1% of the sale price as “earnest money”. This lets the seller know that you are serious about your offer.
• You will have contingencies, such as getting proof of proper financing and a good house inspection.
• You will hire a home inspector that will give the home a complete inspection, to catch any possible problems the home may have.
• When your offer is accepted by the seller, a legal and binding contract is drawn which states sell price, details of buyer’s or seller’s obligations, and date of possession.
• The required HUD “settlement sheet” provides a list of all monies paid at closing, including commissions, taxes and escrow amounts.
• There will be a mandatory title search, and title insurance and an application for homeowners insurance is required.
• Various closing costs will be paid such as the appraisal fee, the credit report fee, your taxes and the document preparation fee, to name a few.
• Utility service and mortgage payment transfers will be arranged.

Denver is America’s best city to buy a home, Forbes Magazine says in a new ranking of U.S. metro areas.

“While the majority of the nation’s housing markets are still working toward a bottom, some cities are boasting fundamentals that make them good places to buy a home now,” Forbes reported this week.

Phoenix was ranked No. 2 on the Forbes list, followed by Boston, San Diego and Los Angeles.

The Forbes rankings seem geared more toward each market’s current and future potential as a place to buy a home, since some of the cities at or near the top of the list are among those hardest hit by the recession.

The report ranked the 25 largest U.S. metro areas on the basis of change in price per square foot, frequency of real-estate transactions, and how evenly distributed home-sales activity is in a metro area.

“Denver tops the list,” Forbes said. “It had 25 percent of its property sales occur within approximately 25 percent of the city’s ZIP codes. This means sales in various parts of the city were fairly evenly distributed, showing proportionate activity. The further a city deviates from the 25 percent mark, the less evenly distributed the market is in that city, and thus the lower that city ranks.”

Forbes also determined that average price per square foot of housing space increased 5.7 percent in Denver between February and March of this year, and that transactions decreased 8.4 percent between March 2008 and March 2009, less of a drop than many cities.

“Denver scores very well in terms of being able to bring people into a stable housing market,” the magazine quoted Moody’s economist Christopher Cornell as saying. “It has better growth potential than most cities today.”

Forbes listed Las Vegas, Cleveland, Seattle and Detroit at the bottom of the 25 cities. “There, distressed sales have kept home values down and buyers away,” Forbes said.

It’s the second time in as many months that Denver has held the top spot in a ranking of real-estate potential.

On May 19, Denver was named America’s No. 1 city on the verge of recovery in a segment on NBC’s “Today” show. Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran, a regular guest on the show, said Denver more than any other U.S. city is “clearly on a rebound.”

Forbes drew its data from March 2009 RPX Monthly Housing Market Report, distributed by Radar Logic Incorporated, a New York-based derivatives firm.

Sometimes house sellers lose sight of what is most important to a home buyer or potential tenant. Making that good first impression is so important since you usually only get one chance during that first home showing. Remember to focus on the following and you should have an offer in no time:

• Spruce up that entryway, or change it to appear more welcoming as a buyer enters through the front door, with an attractive bench or chair and a vase of fresh flowers.
• Houses can lose their appeal to a buyer if there are dirty dishes piled in the sink, piles of laundry or dust. It is hard work to keep your house sparkling at all times for a surprise showing, but very necessary.
• Kitchens sell a house. If yours looks old, a buyer might ask for up to $10,000 off of the asking price. Specifics to focus on are change the counter tops, install new hardware and change to a neutral paint color. Even replacing just one appliance with a stainless steel version makes a difference!
• Never forget to remove any personal items such as family photos and collections. It makes it harder for a buyer to envision themselves in the space if all they see are dozens and dozens of hummels.
• Light is good! Even if you prefer a darkened space, remember that a prospective buyer looks for as much light as possible. Remove drapes if you have to to let in light, or trim back large bushes or trees that are preventing light from entering a space.
• Empty those closets so that at least half of it is visible. Many sellers find that they have to put things into temporary storage elsewhere, but this effort pays off as a buyer needs to believe that they have a myriad of places to put all of their “stuff”.
• In this economy try your best to be brave and list your home at 15% to 20% off of its value. This strategy has a track record of creating many tenants or buyers with bids, that often end up over the ask price.

For more information about how to properly price your home for sale go to “How Sellers Can Maximize Profit”.