Advice for First-Time Home Buyers
Buying a home, especially for the first time, can be a scary process for many people, which makes it extremely important for first-time home buyers to be as informed as they can before starting the home buying process. Being adequately prepared will help to eliminate mistakes and oversight, as well as ensuring a smooth transaction.
Pre-Qualification
The first step to finding the perfect home is to speak with a mortgage broker. A broker will be able to help you decide exactly how much you can afford to pay for a home. The most important thing to remember is that a mortgage broker’s job is to represent the buyer’s best interest and NOT the interests of banks or other lending institutions.
Speaking with a broker is a great place to start for new homebuyers to gain personalized advice to help with the buying process.
Home Loan Approval
Once you have an idea of what your budget will be, seeking pre-approval from a lender will further establish your price range for a new home. In addition, pre-approval can save time and effort, while showing that you are a qualified prospect, making potential sellers more receptive to your offer(s).
What Does Your New Home Need? What Do You Want It To Have?
The best way to start narrowing down your options is to make two lists; one for the qualities your new home must have, and a second for what you would like your new home to have, but are not necessary.
The first list should contain qualities like: number of bedrooms or bathrooms to accommodate your family, a single-story if accessibility is a factor, etc. The second list should contain things like: a pool, additional living areas, guest bedroom, etc.
By establishing the qualities you want and need, it will be much easier to begin to select properties that satisfy the essentials and provide the most ideal possibilities for a new home.
Be Organized and Stay Organized
Buying your first home can seem like an overwhelming process, but doing simple things to help you stay organized can help make the home-buying process a whole lot easier. A few things that will help:
- Get a city map and highlight your areas of interest. (Neighborhoods, school districts, etc.)
- A file with each property shown to you by your Realtor.
- Visualize each home with your décor. Will your furniture fit? Is the home laid out ot fir your needs?
- Make notes and eliminate the homes that don’t suit your needs.
Be Objective and Thorough
Though it is easy to become emotional about buying a home, it is important to stay objective throughout the buying process. Does the home really meet all of your needs? The early bird doesn’t always get the worm when it comes to real estate. It’s better to spend too much time searching that not enough.
