Buying a home takes time, so it’s important to be prepared. Don’t worry, your lender and agent will help you along the way.
If you are financing a house, it can take 2 months or more. There are many stages or steps involved. Finding a lender, then shopping, making the offer, scheduling inspections, getting insurance, working with a title company, and the final step Closing the deal. If you are looking to buy a home in the next 6 months to a year and are going to finance, the time to start preparing is now. Again, don’t worry, your lender and agent will help you.
find a lender
The first step in starting the home buying process is to contact a lender to determine how much money you will have to spend or how much you can afford. There’s no point in buying a house if you can’t buy one. It wouldn’t be wise to look at homes over $300,000 if your lender will only lend you $175,000. It would be very disappointing to find your dream home and then find out that you can’t get it. So start by figuring out what you’ll be able to finance, and then you can go shopping for homes in that price range.
Not all lenders are the same. Find one that is useful and informative to you. Your lender should give you information about what he’s eligible for and, if he’s not eligible, he should be able to tell you what you need to do to qualify.
If you need help finding a good lender, you can also ask your real estate agent if they have any preferred lenders they can recommend.
How much down payment do you need?
Not all mortgages require a large amount of money up front. Be sure to ask your lender what your options are. If this is your first time buying, be sure to let them know.
Some lenders offer special first-time homebuyer loans and some don’t. The State of Florida offers many resources for down payment assistance. You will want to see what is available to you in your state.
If you are eligible for a VA loan, you will not need any down payment. That’s right. There is no down payment.
poor credit score
You can qualify for a mortgage with a credit score as low as 580, so don’t let your credit score determine you. If your credit score falls below the criteria needed for the right mortgage for you, your lender can sometimes look at the report and determine if there are things on the report that they may have removed to increase your score or give you advice on what you need. . you can do to improve it. This can take time, so if you want to buy a home, you should give yourself time to go through these steps. You will need patience and perseverance but a home is worth it.
Get a real estate agent
There are two types of real estate agents. HAS listing agent– someone who specializes in listing houses for sale and A buyers agent- one that assists buyers in the home buying process. It is important to note that both listing agents Y buyers agent be paid by the seller.
Your agent can and should be able to help you through the entire process. They can help you find a lender, buy the home, write and submit the offer to purchase contract, schedule and provide you with information about any inspections you need or may want, work with the title company to get you a free title and free links, working with the lender so the lender has the information they need, etc. They do a lot of work for you and it is important that you remain loyal to them. Work with an agent. Anytime you have a question call your agent.
choose an agent
A good agent will be willing to answer your questions and help you through the process when necessary. He should be able to communicate with them at any time. If your agent isn’t consistently answering your calls or emails and doesn’t follow up within a reasonable amount of time (within an hour or two), you should probably choose another agent. Your agent should always be willing and able to help. If your agent doesn’t know the answer to your question, they should be able to find out for you or point you in the right direction.
find a home
It’s hard for an agent to find what they’re looking for if they don’t know it. An agent can do a search by price. They can also search by location. So if you are looking for a home in Sarasota that is under 300,000, the agent can search and send you a list of homes that are under 300,000. There are more details that the agent may need to know. Is a garage important to you? How about a pool? What about the school district? How many rooms do you need? Do you want a tub in the master bathroom or just a shower is that ok? Anything that is important to you, you should tell them. It will make finding the right home in the right place that much easier. I’ve had buyers spend weeks and months searching because they weren’t sure what they wanted and it kept changing. The location changed, the price changed, the size changed. Sometimes certain areas just don’t have much available in the price and size you need. Finding the right home can be easy and sometimes difficult depending on need and availability.
Fear of home maintenance?
There are many old houses out there. If you like old houses, you may want to look for one that has had some maintenance done by the seller over the years. Have they updated the roof, air conditioning or heating system, replaced any plumbing, etc.? I have seen some recently renovated houses that have big problems. Purchasing a home warranty is always a good option when purchasing an older home.
If you’re afraid of having to do maintenance or can’t find a home you like, you may want to consider new construction. Your agent can also help with this. They should have some local builders and know of available land that can lead you to model homes. Some builders have floor plans already designed and priced so you can find a home within your price range. They may have even started the process of building a house so you don’t have to wait as long. Buying new means everything is under warranty.