Scared to buy a home? Overcome the fear by taking these 6 steps!
A week ago yesterday I had my first adult surgery. I had a few friends tell me what a breeze it would be and that I would be ready to go back to work the next day. Well my mom could have told you from back when I was 17 that I'm a huge BABY when it comes to being a patient. In the past week I have weened myself off the pain pills but ventured out very very little. I've picked up a couple of things from Kroger and 
been to my office three times, but only for a few minutes at time. I also went to my mom's house on Tuesday for our family Thanksgiving, but spent a lot of that time on a bed in my room. I was so scared that anything was going to bump into my ouchies. And even at home I've been sitting around surrounded by pillows just in case Glen decides he wants to be a lap dog.
The first day I was home alone was just two days after the surgery and I actually drove myself to Sunday School. I love my class. I teach 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at First Baptist Church. I've taught children for a little more than 20 years now. My mom had agreed to teach my class in the event I didn't feel up to it or want to make the drive into town. But I love my kids so I set out and went. I was really terrified being in car with a seat-belt across the incisions.
As I was reflecting upon the past week and overcoming my fear of moving, eating, getting out... I thought... that must be what it's like for first time home buyers. Fear can be paralyzing if you let it.
So take some steps to over come the fear and perhaps find you are ready to move into home ownership:
- Find yourself a great brokerage firm. In the Lake Sinclair area of course that would be Lane Realty. And in any other area feel free to call me, perhaps I know someone in that area too. I'm friends with agents and brokers throughout the country and would be more than happy to make a recommendation of who to call.
- Ask that brokerage firm for a list of lenders so you can pre-qualify. Think you need to find the house first... think again. The purpose of getting pre-qualified is knowing what price range to search for a home. And it's important information for your agent to know the TYPE of loan you qualify for because not all homes will qualify for all types of loans. And having that pre-qualification letter makes you ready to make an offer. Some sellers require said letter to be submitted with an offer.
- Ask the brokerage firm for a list of local insurance agents. You'll want to know an approximate amount of insurance to include in your budget
- Ask the brokerage firm to find out tax amounts on homes before you view them to make sure that will also fit into your budget.
- Ask the agent you are working with to do a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) on any home you wish to make an offer on. A recent CMA should come in very close to the value a home would appraise for and you should base your offer on an amount you feel the house would appraise.
- HOME WARRANTY- make sure you have a home warranty in place for those things that can and will break so that a repair won't "break" you. Sometimes sellers will buy this for you if you ask for it in the offer.
Having a great agent on your team will help you overcome the fear of buying that first home. And until you are ready to take that first step you should be saving money, paying every bill on time or early and you should go to Annualcreditreport.com to check your credit. Do not go to free credit report (which doesn't appear to be free) and remember you can only pull a credit report free once annually.
If you currently don't qualify to buy a home, you can get advise from a reputable lender on how to fix any credit problems you may have. First you need to know if all bad reported items on your report are actually yours. If they are not they can be disputed. Then changing habits and saving can help you to correct downgrades in your credit score from past mistakes. Just don't pay rent forever because you are scared to try. With the great rates out there you might even save money to buy a home instead of continuing to pay rent.
Perhaps you can put home shopping on your Christmas list this year. Have a happy and safe holiday season!
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