Steps to Consider Before Beginning Your New Home Search
For many, buying a new home is the largest purchase you will make in your lifetime. You want to remember this experience as a good part of your life, not as just a stressful event.
Use the following tips to help take the stress out of purchasing your new home.
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Get Your Financial Information in Order
Before you are ready to buy a new home you need to know what kind of budget you are working with. The first place to start is in getting your current credit scores from each of the three bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
The next thing you should do is contact a loan officer to see what information they will need, such as pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, etc. Once you have the information needed, schedule an appointment with a loan officer to see what loan amount you will be approved for. You will want to study the different types of loans to see what works best for your situation.
This is a purchase that is not something you should rush into. It is important to remember that you do not have to purchase a home for the full amount you were approved for. For example the loan officer may be able to get you approved to purchase a $200,000 home. If however you cannot comfortably afford more than the payments that a $150,000 home will require, stick to your budget, not the one set by the loan officer.
Everyone’s situation is different and you will be making these payments for a long time. Make sure you are comfortable with the amount you will be spending.
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Make a List of Your “Wants” and “Needs” in a New Home
More than likely you will have to compromise some of your wants, so it is important to be realistic in what is a want and what is a need. If you need three bedrooms to fit your family and you want a kitchen with granite countertops, you know what you will have to sacrifice if it comes down to it.
It is hard to not become overexcited during the search for your new home and end up compromising in the moment. Doing the work of determining your absolute needs beforehand will help you to end up with what you need in the end.
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Decide Where You Want to Live
You have to know where you want to end up. Don’t just assume there is a certain place you want to live. Do your research on the neighborhoods and even drive through the neighborhoods at different times of the day on different days of the week.
You may find out you are in a flight zone with airplanes flying overhead each day. You may find out that some of the neighborhood holds parties almost each weekend. You might see kids playing outside after school.
You will see what your neighborhood is really like before you buy in your new neighborhood.
When you follow these steps you will put yourself on a good path to purchasing your first or next home. The process of finding a house and getting to the closing table can seem like a long process, but these tips can help make your process as seamless as possible. Before you know it you will be in the process of moving in.