Lets be honest, buying your first home is about as stressful as it gets. We are in the middle of the information age and while the internet is great, it makes getting real answers about buying a home almost impossible. If you don’t get all your questions answered here please reach out to us. We would be more than happy to meet for some coffee and discuss the whole process in more detail.
The first thing you should do is start saving money. This is going to be one of the most expensive purchases you will ever make. Everyone thinks about the monthly payment or taxes but very few buyers seem to really analyze two other things. What are the inspections going to cost and how much am I going to need for the down payment? While there are alot of variables our general recommendation is to save 3.5% of your expected approval amount for the down payment AND and additional $2,000-$2,500 for inspections and the appraisal. Saving this much up in advance or as much as possible with drastically reduce the stress of the process. There is nothing worse as a Realtor than knowing a buyer has decided not to get a particular inspection because it doesn’t fit their budget. It’s a truly painful feeling in the gut when you know someone really wanted that inspection.
Getting approved before looking is the second vital step. Pump the brakes before you go off and call some 1-800 number for the latest and greatest online lender! Many of the online lenders you see on TV can get the job done but most local lenders can get way more creative with loans and they also generally provide grants and down-payment assistance! Calling a local lender can literally save you thousands up front and tens of thousands during the life of the loan! Lenders can also do one of two things for you: 1) issue a pre-qualification or 2) issue a pre-approval. If you want to potentially shorten the buying process time by a week or more & have your offer be more attractive you should ask for the approval process to be done. By doing so they have verified your employment, income, assets and credit score. Having this done in a multiple offers situation greatly improves your odds of getting the home! Just keep in mind, whatever amount they say your top dollar is doesn’t mean it is the best financial decision. Carefully analyze your budget to see where your comfort zone is.
Now that you are saving money and have your pre-approval in hand its time to start searching. Over 90% of people are now finding their dream home online which you have to admit makes the process super convenient. The best approach is to sit down and discuss with your Realtor exactly what your looking for and what your budget is and which loan type your going with. Different loan types will require homes to be in different conditions. With that in mind most sites wont effectively sort out loan types like a Realtor’s direct search in the MLS is capable of doing. We recommend that you also conduct your own search at your leisure but highly encourage using an app like Homesnap as it’s directly linked to your agent allowing you to send direct messages about any home, plus its directly connected to the MLS and has all the data. That’s something Zillow, Realtor and Trulia just can’t match even though they have good products as well.
The final thing you should do while searching for that dream home is start reading through drafts of the local contracts and getting a list of recommended inspectors from your Realtor. You may need to make decisions fairly quick when buying a home and having done your homework and understanding the local contracts some can also drastically reduce the stress and speed up the process.
As Realtor’s we can’t take out all the stress of buying a home but we can be your partner through the process. Never hestiate to “bother” your agent with that question you have been stewing over all day. It’s our job and we really do like make sure you have the right information because we know this isn’t a small purchase!