Tips for First Time Buyers
Your Long Term Goals are Important
Long-term goals make a huge difference when it's time to buy a home and decide which mortgage option is the best for you. We need to estimate how long you plan to live in your future home so we can determine the best course of action.
Your lifestyle matters
It is important to consider whether or not the home you are looking at buying will meet your needs in the future. While life tends to surprise all of us from time to time, having a general idea of how you plan on living for the next 10 to 20 years is a great idea when you're buying a home.
The average American moves every four to five years, so there may be several home purchases in the same segment of the real estate market. Once you are ready to move out of a starter home, your tastes in what makes a good neighborhood and home will be much more refined than they were when he made that first purchase. This is where the fun really begins!
Credit and Affordability
Having good credit is a good thing to have when you're buying a home, but we all make mistakes and having less than perfect credit does not mean you cannot buy the home of your dreams. Don't assume that you're unable to purchase a home due to a less-than-perfect credit score. Ask me about your mortgage and financing options.
Ongoing Costs
The true cost of a home includes much more than the first down payment and initial price that you pay. There are a multitude of other costs to consider when you're looking at buying a home. The most obvious costs include taxes and homeowners association fees. Keeping repair costs in mind is also a good idea. When you're looking at buying a new home, keep in mind the age of the home and all the appliances inside, as well as things like roof repair and window replacement, as possible future expenditures on your new home. As a general rule, older homes will cost more to heat and cool because or insulation technology was not as efficient as newer insulation technology. While much of this may seem like common sense, it is easy to push these ongoing costs out of your mind when we began looking at buying a new house.
Initial Funding
While it is conceivable that you could buy a new home without any money out of pocket, you will be much better off to have some initial funding lined up before beginning to look at houses. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage is one of the best things a home buyer can do to ensure that their offer will be considered seriously by a potential seller. When you are preparing to buy a house, keep in mind that the banks like to see checking accounts that do not have wildly fluctuating balances. What the banks are looking for are signs of financial stability. Keeping a constant balance in your checking account would serve you well prior to getting preapproved for a mortgage. Having a down payment would be even better.
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