As a first-time homebuyer, likely, you don’t know everything about buying a home yet. There’s nothing wrong with doing some research to know what you’re getting yourself into and to better understand the process. Here are some tips for anyone who is thinking about buying their first home!
One of the biggest things you need to do when deciding to buy a home is to start saving money and figuring out how much home you can afford. There are many expenses when it comes to buying a home that you may not think of at first. You have to factor in the down payment, the closing costs, and any move-in expenses. The website Nerd Wallet has a calculator that can help you figure out how much house you can afford.
Something else important is working to strengthen your credit. If your credit score isn’t exactly where you’d like it to be, you can do things before buying a home to strengthen it. Make sure you’re keeping track of your credit score and make sure you’re keeping up with all of your bills and payments because those play a huge factor in your credit score.
Make sure you’re getting the best rates and that you’re checking other places for the same loan amount to compare costs. Be sure to also research the different types of mortgages that are out there so you know you’re choosing what’s best for you.
Something you may not think of right away, but it super important to do is to hire an inspector. An inspector will tell you if there is anything wrong with the house before you buy it. One of the reasons this is so important is because it could drastically change the amount of money you’ll need to spend on the house. After all, it may have something very costly happening that you just aren’t aware of yet. It’s also just nice to be aware of the things in your home before you buy them.
Sticking to your budget is something that seems like it would be easy, but then you see something just out of your price range and you think that maybe you can go over just a little bit. You want to make sure you have enough money in the budget for wiggle room and any repairs or extra costs there might be. If you end up over the budget, you don’t have any of that extra money and you’re going to have a harder time managing those issues.
When buying a home, you need to make sure you have all of your priorities in line. Making sure you do this before shopping for a home is going to help you in the long run. Then you’ll only be looking at houses with those things in them rather than wasting your time by looking at houses that you wouldn’t want to live in because they don’t have the things you need. Also, maybe take some time to decide which things you can give up if it means having your number one priority.
Pay attention to the homes that are part of an HOA. They have more documents for you to go through and rules for you to follow that you’ll want to know about before buying the house. Make sure you’re taking into account the extra fees that come along with being a part of an HOA because with a mortgage, you may not want to pay an extra fee every month, or maybe the fee will end up seeming worth it to you.
All of these tips are essential things to know and pay attention to when buying a house. Knowing these will make your home shopping go a little more smoothly, and I’m sure you’ll be able to be a part of the process and be prepared for any questions your agent has for you.
References
Dehan, A. (2021, April 16). 13 Tips For First-Time Home Buyers. Retrieved from Rocket Mortgage: https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/first-time-home-buyer-tips
Hochberg, M. (n.d.). 23 Things Every First-Time Homebuyer Should Know. Retrieved from HGTV: https://www.hgtv.com/lifestyle/real-estate/23-things-every-first-time-homebuyer-should-know
Marquand, B. (2020, August 14). Tips for First-Time Home Buyers. Retrieved from NerdWallet: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/tips-for-first-time-home-buyers