4 Things Every First Time Home Buyer Should Do
Are you getting ready to buy a single family home and leave apartment living behind? If so, you'll need to know these tips as a first time home buyer.
Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
You may feel a bit weird visiting a mortgage lender before you even start looking, but it is a crucial part of the process. If you've never bought a home before, you have no idea how much you'll be approved for by a mortgage lender. This will help give you a realistic idea about what kind of homes for sale you can afford and help you avoid wasting time.
Make a List of Wants and Needs
Many first time home buyers are too focused on wanting everything in their very first home. However, you're likely going to have difficulty finding everything you want within your budget. That's why it helps to make a list of wants and needs so that you can prioritize what's important. You may want a home with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, but realize that these things are wants rather than needs. You'll avoid passing up on a potential home due to not having a feature that is really not that important in the long term.
Find Your Own Buying Agent
It's very important that you work with a real estate agent for your first home purchase, and don't make the mistake of using the seller's agent to buy the home. The seller's agent is always going to make decisions that are in the seller's best interest, which is why you want to find your home real estate agent to fight on your behalf.
Stop Looking at Online Estimates
Many home buyers fall into the trap of looking at online home estimates to decide how much a home should really be worth, using it to quickly eliminate homes that they feel are overpriced. The truth is that these estimates are computer generated and are not accurate at all. The only person that can help estimate the price of a home is someone that has actually been in it, such as your real estate agent. You should also realize a home is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.
These are just a few tips to get you started when searching for a home. Work with your real estate agent to learn more tips about what you should and should not be doing to make the home buying process successful.
Real estate purchases are big purchases. You may pay several hundred thousand dollars, or even more, for a property. As such, there's not a lot of room for error. If you buy a house that needs a lot of unexpected work or end up in over your head when it comes to the mortgage, your dream home can quickly turn into a nightmare house. We want to help you avoid scenarios like that, which is why we share so much information about real estate on this blog. Our readers emerge more informed on a wide array of topics, from buying to closing.