Tips in Buying Your First Home
Buying a home is such a big deal and can often times be stressful. After buying two homes, I can honestly say I have some good tips for those of you looking to buy your first home. Or maybe you had a snafu with your first home purchase and vow to never buy again? Check out the following tips and maybe they can help you save yourself a few headaches the next time you are looking to buy a new home:
1. Get Pre-Approved For Your Home Loan
Loan pre-approval is where you are given a loan limit for a certain time let’s say like six months. This lets you know exactly how much you can afford when you look for a house to buy. Loan pre-approval makes your finance organised and prevent you from wasting your time looking for properties that are not in your price range. Also, this way, you don’t need to stress yourself out finding a property before you can apply for a loan.
2. Bigger Isn’t Always Better
Yes, we all want a beautiful home, but bigger doesn’t always mean better. There’s an old adage in real estate that says don’t buy the biggest, best house on the block. Seriously! You don’t want to limit yourself when it comes to resale. Your home is only going to go up in value as much as the other houses around you. Think about the future when you are buying a house.
3. Keep Your Money Where It Is
If you are planning to a home within six months, do not make any big purchases or move your money around. When it comes to buying a home, you want to make sure your credit profile is in good standing. Lenders want to see that you are a reliable buyer and you want to be able to get the best loan you possibly can! Avoid opening up new credit cards, amassing too much debt or buying that brand new boat or other toys. You will have a hard time getting a loan!
4. Watch Out for Closing Costs
Expect to pay extra like two to five percent of the price of a property. This seems like a low number but properties are pretty expensive. Let’s say your property costs $150,000, its closing costs could be like $3,000 to $7,000. There are many fees and expenses in the process of a loan. This includes title fees, attorney fees, lender fees, insurance, interest, and a lot more.
5. Think Long-term and Think Re-sale:
I mentioned it a bit earlier, but definitely think about the long-term. Are you planning to have kids? Will you be taking care of elderly relatives? Will you only be living in your home for a few years? You want to consider location, the number of levels the house has, the busyness of the neighbourhood.
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This is good advice. Sometimes it’s hard to think long-term when you’re excited for your first house but it’s a good idea.
I very much agree that home buying is such a big deal and a stressful stuff to handle. These are some great tips from you as you have experience of buying 2 homes. I do stand with you about thinking long term & planning accordingly.
These are great. Especially number 1. I remember a few years ago we got ready to buy but started with looking before even getting pre-approved. We found the perfect house. But sadly we didn’t get approved for enough. Getting pre-approved lets you know what you can and cannot afford.
These are some great tips, I’ll have to remember this when I buy a house in the future!
These are all such great tips! I wished I’d had them when I bought my first house years ago.
We are currently in the process of purchasing a home, so thank you for all these tips!
I’m starting to save for my first house so I couldn’t have found this post at a more perfect time. Your tips are so helpful, and touch upon topics I wouldn’t have even thought of!
These are GREAT tips! We bought our first home a few years ago and the closing costs were very unexpected!
I’m in the process of buying a new home and the nicest house on the block advice is so true. I am the smallest, and quite happy with that 🙂
What great tips! I would add do your research. I watched a ton of HGTV first time home buyers as well as did my own research online. I would also add to make a list of non-negotiables and remember that small cosmetic changes shouldn’t be part of your non-negotiables.
These are such great tips. There’s so much that goes into home buying that first time buyers aren’t aware of before hand.
Awesome tips! I wish I would have know a few of these when we were buying our first house! It was such a headache trying to figure it all out!
These are great tips! Buying a house is a big decision, it’s not like you can just return it if you change your mind.
I’d also add: decide if you’re the fixer upper types? Because you might think you are until you NEED to be and discover you’re not! lol!
I remember when I purchased my home. The seller paid the closing cost which saved me some money but all these tips were what I used.
When we bought our home, we didn’t really do this type of research and boy do I wish we did!
Great tips in first-time home buying. I’m not there yet but a lot of people my age are. The big issue I’m noticing is the fear of becoming house poor. You have a beautiful home but no money to do anything else.
these are all great tips. We are looking to possibly buy a home soon and it can be so hard to sell but I am hoping when it is time that it all works out
That is is a good list of tips you have up for first time home buyers. We rent a apartment because we can’t afford the cost of owning our own house.
These are some great tips for those people who are looking to purchase their first home. It can certainly be an overwhelming experience.