Like many other firsts in life, buying your first time is an amazing experience that is packed with meeting new people, learning new terms, and creating lasting memories. Of course, not understanding the home buying process can be stressful for first time home buyers.
🏡 What do I need to know as a first-time home buyer?
When it comes to buying your first home, you’ll want to understand the importance of your credit history and have your credit score on hand. It also helps to have a bit of information on the different kinds of home mortgage loans available.
A professional real estate agent can help you navigate the waters safely and help with finding a home and any negotiations that are needed. Getting a loan pre-approval, writing a wish list, and understanding more about making an offer are also helpful steps to complete.
đź’Ż Know Your Credit Score
A credit score of 620 or higher is the typical requirement for most traditional mortgage loan lenders in order to secure a loan. Traditional sources include banks, mortgage companies, and credit unions.
Report any errors that you discover within a timely manner so that your purchase is not delayed by the process of the agencies investigating. If you have outstanding debts and delinquent accounts, you’ll want to make a plan to take care of these to improve your financial profile.
It’s also important to stay away from making other large purchases during this time that will impact your debt-to-income ratio and lower your credit score. Big purchases would be anything that requires credit or payments.
You May Want to Read – 6 Steps to Buying a Home
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration (VA) are known to accept lower credit scores when it comes to approvals for home loans, but you can expect to pay a higher interest rate. These loans may also come with guidelines that are different than those that come with a traditional loan, including special house inspections before purchase.
🙋‍♀️ Find a Real Estate Agent to Buy a Home
We understand the unique needs of first-time home buyers, and we applaud you for taking the time to visit our website to learn more about the home buying process. We genuinely care about your experience and needs when it comes to buying a home.
We suggest that you sign up for a free account that allows you to save searches for criteria that you find important when searching for homes. These search options can save you time and give you an edge over other buyers in the area, and you’ll receive email alerts whenever a new home comes on the market that meets your criteria.
You may be tempted to proceed without the help of a qualified real estate agent, but we caution you to consider the legal aspects and real estate market trends that you may not be aware of when making decisions. We have the knowledge and experience needed to help make your home buying transaction a successful one that is as stress-free as possible.
đź“ť Get a Mortgage Loan Pre-approval
If you’ve put together your wish list, you know exactly how much fun it can be to dream about everything you want in a home. However, there are times when the reality of the budget doesn’t match the items on the dream home wish list.
Getting a home mortgage pre-approval can help guard against the disappointment that comes when you set your sights on a home that gits your wish list but not your price range. The pre-approval gives you a price range that saves time by helping you focus on the right homes.
The pre-approval gives you an expected loan amount that can help you search within the correct price range. The pre-approval letter can be helpful when you’re placing an offer on a home.
When you submit an offer to a seller that has a pre-approval attached, you’re sending the seller a strong message that you are serious about the purchase. It also shows clearly that you’ve been through the approval process and have the ability to close the sale if they accept the offer.
đź“‹ Create a Wish List
We mentioned previously that creating a wish list can help us when it comes to selecting the right homes for your needs. While it is a fun activity, it serves to solidify your ideas and separate the needs from the wants.
List everything that is important to you and go back over the list to mark items that are not up for compromise. Include things like location, school expectations, local amenities, and additional rooms.
Share this list with us when we have a meeting to discuss your home needs. This list will help us save you time because we can focus on homes that meet your criteria closely.
đź’° Place an Offer on a House
You want to create an offer on the home you choose that gets the attention of the seller and fits within the boundaries of your real estate goals. You don’t want to create a low offer that is offensive, and you don’t want to go too high because you are feeling emotional.
We can’t wait to sit down and talk with you about your goals, your wish list, and how we can help you find the home that’s the perfect fit for your needs. We also recommend that you sign up to save your property searches and get email alerts whenever new homes are added to the real estate market in this area.
