Buying your first home can cause a bit of anxiety, but it should not be overwhelming. Buying a home is nothing more than a process, and you are surrounded by professionals the entire time. We want to give you some first home buyer tips and advice to make your first home purchase a smooth one.
Tips For First Time Buyer
Let’s take a look at our top home buyer tips we have for people thinking about purchasing their first home. Our tips are here to help you save money and make better decisions when buying your first home.
Know Your Budget
The number one important piece of first home advice is to know your budget. This alone is going to help you not be so anxious with your decision to buy your first home. Knowing your home purchase budget helps you determine the maximum purchase price for a home. This will help guide your home search. There are only two numbers you need to know.
The first number is the cash you are willing to spend to get the keys in your hands. Home buyers have the expense of a down payment, inspections, and closing costs. It is important to know how much cash you are willing to part with to close the home purchase.
Secondly, you want to know the monthly payment you are comfortable repaying. A house payment includes the principal interest repayment, and private mortgage insurance. If you choose to escrow your taxes and insurance these expenses will be included in your monthly payment, too.
Get Pre-Approved For A Mortgage
First time home buyers should get pre-approved for a mortgage. In the pre-approval process you will learn if you qualify for your budget targets. Additionally, this will inform you which mortgage product is best to meet your needs. Knowing the loan type you will use is important when searching for homes.
Home sellers are not required to accept every loan type. For example, if you are using an FHA loan to buy your first home, you only want to look at homes where the seller has advertised he or she is willing to accept an FHA loan. Knowing your loan type is important to keep you from falling in love with a home you cannot purchase because the seller will not accept your loan type.
Work With The Right Real Estate Agent
First time home buyers should strongly consider working with a real estate agent to help with finding and buying a house. Most first time buyers do work with their own real estate agent. What is often overlooked is whether the buyer used the right agent.
Home buyers meet real estate agents in many different ways. A first time home buyer could get a referral from a friend or family member, meet an agent at an open house, or find an agent online. Many homebuyers meet an agent when they ask to see a home and then often stick with that agent. Any of these methods is fine, but the issue is whether or not the agent is a good fit for you.
The first time you meet a real estate agent ask questions about his or her experience, work methods, what you can expect from him or her, and whether or not the agent has availability on his or her schedule to help you. The number one client complaint is an agent’s poor or untimely communication. Let the agent know your communication expectations.
Stay Tuned In To Your Home Search
For the last several years most of the U.S. has struggled with housing inventory. There have been too few homes for buyers to purchase. This is causing homes to sell quickly.
We recommend home buyers set up home searches on two or three real estate websites. Even more importantly, stay tuned in to communications from your real estate agent. Your agent will be emailing and texting you listings. The good homes are selling fast. Quickly respond to any homes you like.
When It’s Right, Pull The Trigger
Do not be afraid of the next step once you find the right home. If you see a home you like, meets your housing needs, and is within the budget pull the trigger. Buying a home is not like buying a car. Each piece of inventory is unique and is only on the market for a moment. Go after any home you really like. Immediately start talking to your agent about writing an offer.
Your agent is going to protect you. There are a lot of contingencies in a home purchase offer which will protect you throughout the process. Don’t be afraid you are moving too fast. Great homes are selling fast. You’ve got to be ready to pull the trigger when the right home presents itself.
Get A Home Inspection
Another important first time home buyer advice tip is to have your home inspected. We encourage all of our home buyers to have a home inspection. This helps you better understand what you are purchasing. A home inspection will bring to your attention any major defects with the home, safety issues, and deferred maintenance items. Depending how you structure your offer, you may be able to ask the seller to repair some of these items.
Conclusion
A home purchase should not be extraordinarily stressful. Yes, making a large purchase like buying a home can cause a little anxiety, but it should not be overwhelming.
I often relate buying a home to landing an airplane, which is one of the most dangerous times of a flight. Landing a 747 with 300 passengers takes a coordinated effort from the pilots, flight crew, air traffic controllers, and the ground crew. Buying a home is similar. You will be surrounded by professionals like your lender, your real estate agent, inspector, appraiser, and the title company all making sure everything goes well.
Know your budget targets and get pre-approved for your loan. Meet a great real estate agent who understands how to work with first time home buyers. Find the property for you, make that offer, have the home inspected, and close the transaction. Then comes the fun of living in your new home. We hope these bits of first time home buyer tips and advice help you stay confident in your decision to purchase your first home.
Comments(7)