How to Avoid Financing Issues With Your First Home Purchase
Your first home purchase can potentially be a very positive experience. It can also be financially crippling if you make a critical mistake. But don’t worry! Here are some of the first steps you can take to avoid financing issues with your first home purchase.
How to Avoid Financing Issues With Your First Home Purchase: Get Pre-Approved
Getting pre-approved should be everyone’s first step. There are not a lot of reasons to be shopping for a home if you have no way of knowing if you’ll get a loan or not. The way to get pre-approved is to talk to your bank or other real-estate organization which will be deciding whether or not to approve the loan.
When you start the pre-approval process they will take a look at several factors–your credit score, your employment history, and your current salary, among other things. The process to get pre-approved could take minutes, hours, or days, depending on which entity you are looking to get the loan from.
Plan for All the Costs
Planning is a critical step that cannot be skipped. If you have a solid budget plan for real estate, that means that you will theoretically predict and prepare for major costs and emergencies. Keep every transaction in mind. It’s never as simple as just getting a loan and paying for the property.
Make sure the monthly mortgage is affordable for you, and make sure that you can handle the interest rates. You shouldn’t forget to set aside about 6% of the home price for real estate commissions. Maintenance and moving costs definitely need to be considered. Talk to friends, family, and associates who have bought properties before to know what to be aware of.
How to Avoid Financing Issues With Your First Home Purchase: Double-Check Everything
Along with planning comes double-checking. Don’t take anything at face value. When you’re dealing with an asset as valuable as a property, you need to make extra sure that you are doing the right thing. When hiring a real estate agent, check their reviews–from the best to the worst. Get recommendations from friends. Do the same when it comes to the entity you’re looking to get the loan from. Read the fine print in everything you sign. Check the property itself thoroughly for hidden problems that might cost you later.
Preparation, planning, and being meticulously careful all go a long way. But ultimately, you’ll just have to take the leap. Buying a first property can be intimidating, but there are usually certain offers and rates available for first-time buyers to help you out.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Here’s more to read: How to Avoid Foreclosure on Your House
Steelbridge Realty LLC is a Licensed Real Estate Brokerage that utilizes cutting-edge marketing techniques and data-driven Real Estate solutions in today’s ever-changing environment. Our group of professionals have decades of experience and have navigated through many business cycles. Our diverse background gives us the tools to guide people towards successful decisions.
