Tips for First Time Homebuyers

My boyfriend and I are in the process of buying our first home. Now I am at a bit of an advantage since I do mortgage lending, but I have learned some helpful information along the way that I feel would be helpful for others. Buying your first home should be exciting and somewhat stress free so here are some great tips:

1. Get an idea of what you are looking for. We started looking for houses by using www.trulia.com this website allowed us to download an app to our cellphones and sent us an alert whenever there was a new listing in our preferred area. We could also select the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and the price range we were looking for.

2. Get pre-approved. Before you even starting looking at houses with a Realtor make sure that you get pre-approved for a mortgage loan. It is important to make sure you can afford the houses that you are looking at. It is a simple process and will put you at ease when looking at houses. Stop in one of our branches and talk to a loan officer about getting pre-approved for a mortgage!

3. Select a Realtor that you trust. A good way to select a Realtor is to talk to your friends and family to see who they used. I can’t imagine what our home shopping experience would have been like if we didn't like the Realtor we were working with. Remember a good referral goes a long way!

4. Get an inspection. Once you have put in an offer on a house make sure to schedule an inspection. This is something that your Realtor will go over when you are putting together your offer to purchase. An inspector will look over the appliances, the roof, the siding, and pretty much everything else and give you a detailed report of everything that they look over. An inspection will sometimes allow you to make changes to your offer to purchase and give you an idea of what will need to be replaced in the next 5 years. This is a cost that you have to take care of on your own, but it is well worth the money.

5. Give yourself some time. Buying a house is going to take time and patience. Make sure you are prepared for that. In most cases you are not going to find the home you want the first time you go to look with the Realtor. Buying a home can sometimes take up to a month or longer depending on the loan type and what is in the offer to purchase. Be patient. It will be worth it in the end.

Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

Post by: Katie B.