Steps to Buy Your First Home

Starting with lots of planning, lots of savings, and a lot of running and chasing, you wish to buy your first home. And just when you build that will to buy, you will find out things won’t be as easy as planned.  Your first house may be the biggest investment you have made to date and maybe even the largest goal on your bucket list. 

So to make things easy for you, here are a few steps we have listed that will help you to buy your first house.

Strengthen your decision to buy a house

First things first, to buy a house, you need to make your decision mentally and financially strong enough. Buying a house is not a small deal, you have to prepare and think about several things before you even think about buying one.

There are unusual amounts of hidden costs when you buy a house. You just don’t have to pay the price of the house, maintenance expenses, home appliances bills just come rolling in. When you buy a house, there are many things you would want to change and they cost money. All these costs remain hidden and add up to your expenses list. Also, you have to think about how you will pay the Insurance fees or loans for a home every month in upcoming years. 

So unless you are financially prepared, buying a house may even backfire you. So before you plan to buy your first home, count your savings,  analyze your income and potential expenses. Once you figure that out, you will know when you are ready.

Make arrangements for the down payment

This is the first step where most people feel discomfort. Having to arrange a down payment amount is quite challenging as well. However, the amount of money for down payment depends upon in which area you are looking to buy a house or the type of house you want to buy.

Normally, the down payments cost up to 5% of the total purchase price of the house before you apply for the mortgage loan. However, saving up to 20% for the down payment will give you benefits and give you strong financial aid later. 

If you haven’t yet arranged for the down payment, you can move your muscles extra time and earn from it. Saving 20% of your monthly income will help you to get the arrangements done effectively.

Check credit availability or arrange home loans

Like most people, you may need funding to buy your first house. Mortgage providers will look for your annual income, debt files, and your expenses. Before you get approved for a loan make sure your income to debt ratio is more so that it will be easier to apply for home loans.

Once you get a deal with mortgage lenders, you will have a budget idea of what you can buy with your financial aid.  In some countries, banks, financial institutions, or insurance companies will read your credit score before approving your loan.

If you have any credit left, you should try to pay it off as the clearance of your credit results in better credit scores. Better credit scores allow you to get approvals quickly with a good amount.

Once you arrange your home loans, now it’s time to put on your shoes and visit the market.

Evaluation of market & select the area

You must know about the market rate in your near neighborhood or at the place you want to move in. Some places are extra expensive, some are quite cheap and some stay just at the average rate.

It’s not unusual that we will see the prices changing every year. Along with prices, there are other things that you should consider as well.  When you walk for a visit, it’s important to notice where the school’s colleges or universities are near them, how far is the metro station, where’s the nearest grocery store. These things can affect your day-to-day life and you should always consider them when you are about to move into your next house.

Contact a real- estate agent

Once you have figured out the market conditions and your financial budget, you can now contact a good real estate agent who is perfect to get his job done. The agent will hear your all requisites and conditions, your budget, and your preferences and then act accordingly. 

An agent has plenty of clients and house deals where he can roll up his sleeves and find a house for you quickly.  You can choose the number of houses you like, and you don’t have to even pay the charge.  The good thing about contacting a real estate agent while buying a house is the seller will take care of the agent’s charge. They can also guide you through paperwork that is lengthy and complex.

Choosing a house

One of the major steps in buying a new home is choosing a new house. You have to get comfortable with the way the house is designed, built and equipped including the neighborhood. 

Once you have put your eyes on a house, inspect it carefully. Inspecting a house has two major benefits here. First, it prevents you from buying the house, if there’s anything wrong, second it increases your bargaining power if you find the house needs major maintenance.

Moving into a new house

Once you have selected a house, make some preparation to move in. You need to sign up some papers and fill out some documents so that the escrow agent will release the payments.

This will the most cherishable moment of your life.  The hurdles and goals from pasts will finally be true and you are so excited about that. 

You can now sit at your comfort, color your rooms, adjust few pieces of equipment, and complete it. Don’t forget to update your address on bank accounts, and postal address after you move in.