Tips for buying your first home
Buying a home takes time, so it’s important to be prepared. Don’t worry, your lender and agent will help you along the way.
If you are financing a home, it can take 2 months or more. There are many stages or steps involved. Find a lender, then shop around, make the offer, schedule inspections, get insurance, work with a title company, and the final step is Closing the deal. If you’re looking to buy a home in the next 6 months to a year and you’re going to finance, the time to start preparing is now. Again, don’t worry, your lender and agent will help.
find a lender
The first step in starting the home buying process is to contact a lender to determine how much money you will have to spend or how much you can afford. There’s no point in buying a house if you can’t afford one. It would be unwise to look at homes over $300,000 if your lender will only lend you $175,000. It would be very disappointing to find your dream home and then find out you can’t get it. So start by figuring out what you’ll be able to finance and then you can go shopping for houses in that price range.
Not all lenders are the same. Find one that is helpful and informative to you. Your lender should give you information about what he’s eligible for and, if he’s not eligible, he should be able to tell you what you need to do to be eligible.
If you need help finding a good lender, you can also ask your real estate agent if they have any preferred lenders they can recommend.
How much down payment do you need?
Not all mortgages require a large amount of initial money. Be sure to ask your lender what your options are. If this is your first time buying, be sure to let them know.
Some lenders offer special loans for first time homebuyers and some do not. The State of Florida offers many resources for down payment assistance. You’ll want to see what’s available to you in your state.
If you are eligible for a VA loan, you will not need a down payment. That’s right. There is no down payment.
poor credit score
You can qualify for a mortgage with a credit score as low as 580, so don’t let your credit score determine you. If your credit score falls below the necessary criteria for the right mortgage for you, your lender can sometimes look at the report and determine if there are things on the report they may have removed to boost your score or give you advice on what you need. . can do to improve it. This can take time, so if you want to buy a home, you should give yourself time to go through these steps. You will need patience and perseverance but a home is worth it.
Get a real estate agent
There are two types of real estate agents. HAS listing agent– someone who specializes in listing homes for sale and A buyers agent- one that assists buyers in the home buying process. It is important to note that both listing agents Y buyers agent be paid by the seller.
Your agent can and should be able to help you through the entire process. They can help you find a lender, buy the home, write and submit the offer for the purchase contract, schedule and provide you with information about inspections that are needed or may be desired, work with the title company to get you a free title and free links, working with the lender so the lender has the information they need, etc. They do a lot of work for you and it is important that you remain loyal to them. Work with an agent. Whenever you have a question call your agent.
Choose an agent
A good agent will be willing to answer your questions and help you through the process when needed. He should be able to communicate with them at any time. If your agent doesn’t consistently answer your calls or emails and doesn’t follow up in a reasonable amount of time (within an hour or two), you should probably choose another agent. Your agent should always be willing and able to help. If your agent doesn’t know the answer to your question, they should be able to figure it out for you or point you in the right direction.
find a home
It’s hard for an agent to find what they’re looking for if they don’t know it. An agent can do a search by price. They can also search by location. So if you are looking for a home in Sarasota that is under 300,000, the agent can search and send you a list of homes that are under 300,000. There are more details that the agent may need to know. Is a garage important to you? How about a pool? What about the school district? How many rooms do you need? Do you want a tub in the master bathroom or is just a shower okay? Anything that is important to you, you should tell them. It will make finding the right house in the right place that much easier. I’ve had buyers spend weeks and months looking because they weren’t sure what they wanted and it kept changing. The location changed, the price changed, the size changed. Sometimes certain areas just don’t have much available in the price and size you need. Finding the right home can be easy and can sometimes be difficult depending on need and availability.
Fear of home maintenance?
There are many old houses out there. If you like older houses, you may want to look for one that the seller has done some maintenance on over the years. Has the roof, air conditioning or heating system been updated, any plumbing replaced, etc.? I have seen some recently renovated houses that have major problems. Purchasing a home warranty is always a good option when buying an older home.
If you’re afraid of having to do maintenance or can’t find a home you like, you might want to consider new construction. Your agent can also help with this. They must have some local builders and know of available land that can lead you to model homes. Some builders have floor plans already designed and priced so you can find a home in your price range. They may have even started the process of building a house so you don’t have to wait as long. Buying new means everything is under warranty.