Four Tips for First Time Home Buyers

UPDATED 3/2/21

According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, the pending sales of homes in the United States grew by a whopping 6.1% in May. That is good news for both the ever anxious financially savvy type out there and Americans looking to finally buy or build a home and start the next phase of their lives. With a recovered market for home buyers, many are now ready to take that step, but many more are still extremely cautious about making a huge purchase that could turn sour if they’re not careful. If you fit into the latter group, here are three ways to count yourself among savvy home buyers and find the home you want in ideal home communities.

1. Really Take a Hard, Honest Look at Your Situation

First things first: you need to honestly assess whether or not you’re ready to buy a home. For Bank Rate, this means realizing why you want to buy a home, whether or not you’re in a financial situation to deal with jumbo loans for homes, and what you can really afford to buy over the long term. The last thing you need is to join the legion of Americans who got in over their heads, only to be foreclosed on later.

2. Use Popular Real Estate Websites to Find Reasonable Prices

One of the best things about the internet is how much easier it makes tracking down homes you love at prices you can live with. As MSN Real Estate suggests, home buyers should compare prices by neighborhood on these websites in order to get a realistic idea of what they should expect to pay by city or township. Doing so, you can spot a rip off or a deal from a mile away.

3. Have Your Documents in Order Before You Apply

Before you apply for a home loan, you’re going to need to prove your eligibility. This means providing pay stubs, tax documents, and bank statements. Have these things ready to go before meeting with a potential lender to streamline the process and avoid wasting either party’s time.

4. Work with a Realtor

Being that this is your first time entering the home market, getting home inspections, following laws, getting loans: it can all seem a little too much. With the help of a realtor, however, you can at least find a helping hand to help you through the process. It may still be stressful but much less so than if you went it alone.

The process of buying a house can be a complicated one. There are a lot of factors that go into buying one. If you sell your house fast, it will be easier to then buy another one. However, buying a house when you already own one can be a lot more complicated. You may need to take a special type of loan that allows you to have both houses at once. If you are buying a house on your own, it can be even harder to make this kind of deal. It’s helpful to have an agent on your side when all of this is planned.

Some people are able to succeed in buying another house before they have sold their old one by getting a bridge loan for both homes at the same time. Some are also successful at buying a house with little money down. This can be one of the hardest ways to buy a house, and it can result in it being a little more expensive for the first couple of years. If everything goes well with the process, it is always worth it to buy a house of your own.