Buying a home is not an easy task. In fact, for first time buyers, there are few things more confusing than the process of buying a house from start to finish, and many first timers don’t know exactly where the start of the process actually is. Here are a few tips that will make life easier for the first (or second or third) time home buyer.
Say, for example, that you are interested in investing in Illinois real estate. You either are looking for a new home for yourself and your family, or you just like the investment potential. The very first thing you need to do before looking for the right Illinois real estate investment is take a look at your finances and determine how much you can afford to spend.
There are several resources available to help you calculate your mortgage and figure out what you can afford to spend on your Illinois real estate investment, but for simplicity sake we’ll stick with the formula of three times your annual income. Of course other factors can affect this formula enabling you to afford more or less, but it is a general rule.
You should also meet with your chosen lending institution to research interest rates on mortgages, find the best rate available, and try to get pre-approved for a loan. Getting pre-approved for a loan is one on the best things you can do going into the house purchasing process, it gives you and your seller confidence knowing you can pay exactly what you say you can.
Once you have determined how much you can afford to spend on a house, you should hire an Illinois real estate agent. Some people chose not to hire a Realtor, believing their services cost too much, and end up struggling through the house searching and purchasing process all by themselves. This is unfortunate because it is not the buyer, but the seller who pays a real estate agent, so there is really no drawback to getting an agent working for you, and you also get the benefit of their expert Illinois real estate advice.
Its now time for the fun to begin; now you begin narrowing the search and viewing houses. Typically you will sit down with your Illinois real estate agent and search a data base of houses for sale in the areas you are interested in. You can immediately weed out the houses that are outside of your price range, don’t fit your size specifications, or don’t have all the features you want. The result is, you end up with a list of properties that fit your basic search criteria, and you can go view the homes to decide if they are right for you.
Once you have found that perfect piece of Illinois real estate, your Realtor will then help you negotiate the actual sale of the property with the owner, hopefully getting you the best price possible.

There are several good reasons that Illinois has become one of the most populous states in the country. First, the state economy is very strong and varied. Second, the weather and the landscape are both beautiful. And third, there is enough diversity throughout the state to attract residents from all walks of life. Before you start looking for Illinois real estate, it would be wise to know a little background information on the three main regions throughout the sate: Northern, Central and Southern Illinois.
Northern Illinois
As home to almost seventy-five percent of the state population, Northern Illinois is definitely the most popular region. This is largely due to the business districts, research facilities and educational institutions in Chicago though. For example, about sixty-six percent of the people in northern Illinois live within the boundaries of Chicago land. Chalk full of employment, entertainment and beautiful beaches, parks and neighborhoods, it isn’t surprising that Chicago draws such a large crowd.
There are parts of Illinois that cater to country living over city lifestyles though. For example, northwest of Chicago, home buyers will find charming old villages like Galena and Long Grove. Nestled among rolling hills and tiny valleys, these areas are characterized by their historic buildings, small-town atmospheres, covered bridges and scenic landscapes. Some Chicagoans even buy second homes in here.
Central Illinois
The Central region, which is also known as “the Heart of Illinois,” is known for its small towns and mid-sized cities. The primary economic industries in this area include manufacturing, agriculture, and education. Wind farms are also starting to sprout up across central Illinois. If you are a fan of Abraham Lincoln, you might be interested to know that Springfield is also located in this area.
Southern Illinois
One of the most attractive characteristics of Southern Illinois is the warmer weather it enjoys. The topography is also more varied than the flat, long plains that cover most of the state’s geographical area. Small oil deposits and coal mining are the resources that drive economic production in the region.
If price is the paramount factor in deciding which region to choose, there is a direct correlation between region and median home prices. For example, it is hard to find a list price lower than $200,000 if you are shopping for a home in Northern Illinois while it would be easy to find homes for $150,000 or less in Southern Illinois.
Once you figure out which region and city you prefer, the fastest way to sort through the neighborhoods and individual listings on the Illinois real estate market would be to hire a real estate agent or Realtor with a lot of experience. With their access to current listings and their knowledge about the area, they can definitely make the home-buying process much faster and easier.

PR CONTACT:

Dean Steinman

914-788-1988

Dean@jtlbmedia.com

Peekskill, NY, August 8, 2007 – JTLB Media, which owns and operates CellularRE, one of the leading Real Estate Cellular/Text Message Technology companies (www.CellularRE.com) announced today that the company has entered into a marketing agreement with Illinois based Online-Listing.com (www.online-listing.com), one of the leading Free Worldwide Online Advertising firms.

CellularRE.com and Online-Listing.com will now provide Realtors and For Sale By Owners and Rentals a complete marketing program consisting of a comprehensive online (www.Online-Listing.com) and offline (www.CellularRE.com) program further extending the exposure that Rentals, Realtors and For Sale By Owners or FSBOs receive for their available property listings.

“We are very excited about our relationship with Online-Listing.com and how it complements our existing Real Estate Marketing Program for Realtors and the individual owner. We are most excited about how this opportunity helps drive traffic to our partner’s sites, and how we can now offer a complete marketing package” said Dean Steinman, CellularRE’s Chief Executive Officer. “Real estate professionals and FSBOs who are actively marketing properties for sale or lease are looking for every opportunity to extend the exposure for their property listings. As part of this agreement, “CellularRE’s Customers can now leverage the reach of Online-Listing.com online audience to expose their listings to an even broader audience of potential real estate buyers.” says Steinman. “We are excited to offer Realtors, Rentals and the For Sale By Owners the chance to now get listing information into the hands of those who want it immediately, when they are away from their computer.” Kirk Johnson, Marketing Executive of Online-Listing.com say’s “he’s astonished that his company was chosen to complement CellularRE product and see it’s greatest potential for success”. Kirk also say’s “this is the beginning of a new real estate dynasty ”. I am really excited to give my audience another form of marketing that will save them precious time with quick access.

CellularRE and Online-Listing.com co-marketing programs can be used by Residential Realtors, Commercial brokers, Property Managers, Rental Management Companies, Developers, Builders, and For Sale By Owners to help market and promote their properties to the almost 200 Million wireless subscribers in the US. and the almost 2 billion wireless subscribers worldwide.

Our future goal is to cover the International market with CellularRE product, which includes billion’s of wireless subscriptions, In which Online-Listing.com has begun to focus on recently in the past few month’s coming out with an International site and generating real estate investors who are willing to participate growing it’s network.

About CellularRE:

Based in Westchester County, NY CellularRE is proud to be one of the first comprehensive Cellular Technology companies to the Real Estate Industry. By offering a way to get property listings, information and photos sent right to the cell phone of an interested party when they see a sign on a property, CellularRE is catering to the “instant gratification of information” sect of the population which is growing exponentially monthly. Besides the ability to get listing info from seeing a sign, A Realtor can now send out Text Message alerts to all of their prospects to announce a new property listing. The For Sale By Owner can now let anyone who drives by their house to get all listing info such as price, size, number of bedrooms/baths, taxes and see photos right on their cell phone. CellularRE can be found online at www.CellularRE.com

Contact:

Dean Steinman

914-788-1988

About Online-Listing:

The real estate market was in need of a free advertising network over 2 years ago. The creation of Online-Listing.com was structured to serve International, Realtor, For Sale By Owner, For Rent and Foreclosure home and property listings free on a month to month basis. The website site was also structured to advertise real estate and loan financing company banners. It’s user friendly sites can be in service with only 3 easy steps. Free online advertising in global listing of real estate homes and properties. Future affiliate and partnership programs will be available to all companies in the real estate industry.

Contact:

Kirk Johnson

630-430-4959