1st Time Home Buyers
Guide to Buying Your First Home
Firstly, congratulations on deciding to purchase your first home! Buying a home is one of the most exciting—and complex—transactions of your life. The buying process can also be a very time-consuming, challenging, and costly if you are not familiar with all aspects of the process and don't have all the pertinent resources at hand. This is why I am here to help and guide you through your first experience and dedicated to explaining each step of the process in detail.
Here are some important tips that the first time home buyers need to take note:
Do Your Homework
Be prepared and have realistic expectation. To get started, check your finances.
Talk to your friends and family members who can guide you. Ask them what are the important factors that you need to look at while buying your first home. It is better to seek advice from someone who has recently bought a home. They can give you good suggestions about the recent market condition.
Check your Credit History
Most of the times, if you are planning to buy a home, you need to have a good credit history. If you’ve recently gone through bankruptcy, there is a chance that you won’t be able to get mortgage. If there are some errors with your credit, try fixing them ASAP.
Determine the area and neighborhoods that you want to live in
Usually, first time buyers have certain areas or neighborhoods in their minds where they want to buy a home. The internet is a great resource when searching for your desired areas. Learn about the communities, schools, and events within different cities.
Come up with a budget
While coming up with a final budget of buying your home, you need to calculate few things, which include:
Hire a Professional
Finding a good and experienced real estate agent is one of the most critical steps of home buying process. They can either make the entire process easy or painful for you. That’s why; you need to do your research. It is good to ask for referrals. Go meet and talk to them. Check their website. See what others have to say about them. Tell them what you are looking for. It is important that you meet few real estate agents before choosing one.
Consult a Mortgage Lender
Talk to mortgage lender and look at their loan options. They have different categories of loans for different people. Shop around as certain lenders have better rates than others and assistance programs to help you with closing costs. You need to find out what suits you best and within your budget range.
Once you have decided on what kind of loan you want, get pre-approved. A Pre-approval letter is given to you by your lender stating that they are ready to lend you the money. It shows the sellers that you are a serious buyer. There are many lenders who can give you pre-approval letters based upon what you can afford.
Check multiple homes before making a final decision
It is important that you look at few homes before taking a decision. It might happen that you will fall in love with the first home you see but there could be other better options too. Look for them and then take a final decision.
Reserve some cash for down payment and closing costs
Whatever loan you are taking, you need to have some cash for down payment and closing costs. Loans do not cover them. There are some other options which can help you to get money for down payment and closing costs such as unsecured business lines of credit. But it is better to reserve some money rather than looking for other options.
Don’t get too emotional
It is a fact that buying a home is an emotional decision. Especially if you are a first time home buyer, there are chances that you will get emotionally attached or excited about a certain property. It is Okay to be emotional but you need to have a certain boundary of practicality as well. If a home is completely out of your reach and you have to buy it after getting loans from different sources, it’s not advisable to do that. Set a limit for yourself and try to remain within that limit.
Get your home inspected
Home inspection is a process where an expert called home inspector is hired to check the home. A home inspector is an unbiased person who will look at the home and prepare a report, which has all the important information about the repairs a property might need. This report will help you to negotiate with the seller. Remember, that even newly constructed homes aren’t perfect. It’s always a good idea to get your home inspected before making a final offer.
Buying your first home might sound like a difficult task but if you get yourself educated, it’s fun.
Here are some important tips that the first time home buyers need to take note:
Do Your Homework
Be prepared and have realistic expectation. To get started, check your finances.
- How much money do you have?
- What’s your price range?
- Do you have someone in your family that can help you co-sign?
- Talk to them and come up with a realistic figure to buy a home.
Talk to your friends and family members who can guide you. Ask them what are the important factors that you need to look at while buying your first home. It is better to seek advice from someone who has recently bought a home. They can give you good suggestions about the recent market condition.
Check your Credit History
Most of the times, if you are planning to buy a home, you need to have a good credit history. If you’ve recently gone through bankruptcy, there is a chance that you won’t be able to get mortgage. If there are some errors with your credit, try fixing them ASAP.
Determine the area and neighborhoods that you want to live in
Usually, first time buyers have certain areas or neighborhoods in their minds where they want to buy a home. The internet is a great resource when searching for your desired areas. Learn about the communities, schools, and events within different cities.
Come up with a budget
While coming up with a final budget of buying your home, you need to calculate few things, which include:
- Cost of living
- Cost of potential repairs
- Taxes
Hire a Professional
Finding a good and experienced real estate agent is one of the most critical steps of home buying process. They can either make the entire process easy or painful for you. That’s why; you need to do your research. It is good to ask for referrals. Go meet and talk to them. Check their website. See what others have to say about them. Tell them what you are looking for. It is important that you meet few real estate agents before choosing one.
Consult a Mortgage Lender
Talk to mortgage lender and look at their loan options. They have different categories of loans for different people. Shop around as certain lenders have better rates than others and assistance programs to help you with closing costs. You need to find out what suits you best and within your budget range.
Once you have decided on what kind of loan you want, get pre-approved. A Pre-approval letter is given to you by your lender stating that they are ready to lend you the money. It shows the sellers that you are a serious buyer. There are many lenders who can give you pre-approval letters based upon what you can afford.
Check multiple homes before making a final decision
It is important that you look at few homes before taking a decision. It might happen that you will fall in love with the first home you see but there could be other better options too. Look for them and then take a final decision.
Reserve some cash for down payment and closing costs
Whatever loan you are taking, you need to have some cash for down payment and closing costs. Loans do not cover them. There are some other options which can help you to get money for down payment and closing costs such as unsecured business lines of credit. But it is better to reserve some money rather than looking for other options.
Don’t get too emotional
It is a fact that buying a home is an emotional decision. Especially if you are a first time home buyer, there are chances that you will get emotionally attached or excited about a certain property. It is Okay to be emotional but you need to have a certain boundary of practicality as well. If a home is completely out of your reach and you have to buy it after getting loans from different sources, it’s not advisable to do that. Set a limit for yourself and try to remain within that limit.
Get your home inspected
Home inspection is a process where an expert called home inspector is hired to check the home. A home inspector is an unbiased person who will look at the home and prepare a report, which has all the important information about the repairs a property might need. This report will help you to negotiate with the seller. Remember, that even newly constructed homes aren’t perfect. It’s always a good idea to get your home inspected before making a final offer.
Buying your first home might sound like a difficult task but if you get yourself educated, it’s fun.
If you need some more information about homes or the areas you are willing to live in, please fill in the form below and I will be more than happy to help you.
