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Love First Time Home Buyers

By Victoria Ray Henderson

Real Estate Broker/Owner with HomeBuyer Brokerage

February 11, 2015 10:22 PM

In the Spirit of the Season.....Love First Time Home Buyers

If you are a first time Home Buyer, we want to welcome you to the

Wonderful Adventures of Buying a Home

Here are a few points to start your home search.

Talk to a Mortgage Lender-This is the foundation of your home search. A lender will help you determine the price range for your home search
Know your rights-As a first time home buyer, you have protection with the Real Estate Settlement Procurement Act (RESPA) This protects you from unnecessarily high settlement charges and other abuses.
Learn about home buying programs in your State-Every state and local jurisdiction offers programs for first time home buyers. Check here for the link to HUD's site. You may qualify for tax reductions and more!
Write your needs & wants list-This is a must! If you are buying a home with someone, compare your lists and make sure they match up-at least in the needs category.
Interview Realtors-call and set up meetings at a local coffee shop or the Realtors office. You want your Realtor to work full time in the business, be available when you call and to show you all the homes for sale in your chosen location. You may want to consider fixer-upper homes. Talk to your Realtor to be sure they can help you evaluate properties.
Stay on top of your search-you will begin to like certain home styles more than others. You may discover you really love houses on cul-de-sac's. You & your Realtor are a team. Together, you can shape your home search so you are seeing more homes that match your "needs and wants".
Found it! Write an offer-This will take a couple of hours. Once you find a home you want to buy, you will sit down with your Realtor and write your offer. Again, working as a team, you will pay close attention to the contract deadlines. You will also need to make an earnest money deposit. This is like a security deposit that shows the home owner you are sincere. EMD's are typically between 1-5% of the home sales price.
Line up a Home Inspection-Your Realtor should have a few good home inspectors to recommend. The home inspection price will vary. It Depends on the size of the home and if you are also getting termite, radon and well & septic.
Make a formal application for your home loan-You will work with a licensed mortgage lender to determine what home loan works for you. At this time, you will also shop for home owners insurance. You can check with your auto insurance company first to get an idea of cost.
Title Office-Settlement Attorney-usually recommended to you by your Realtor. If you have someone you want to work with-that is your choice. The attorney will do a title search on the home, gather all pertinent documents, coordinate with lender and take care of meeting deadlines to prepare you for settlement.
Final Walkthrough-typically the morning of settlement. You and your Realtor will make sure everything in the house is in the same condition as it was during the home inspection.
Review HUD-1 and Settle-The finish line! You should receive a HUD-1 from your lender at least a day prior to settlement. The HUD-1 gives line by line detail of your closing costs. Congratulations!