A home purchase is one of the biggest investments in life. As a first time home buyer, you might be experiencing a lot of anticipation and excitement. But along with that comes a lot of pressure and responsibility. We want to help you avoid potential mistakes that can derail your dreams and send you into a panic.
Here are a few steps to buy a house that first time home buyers should or shouldn’t be taking.
Establish Your List of Needs
When considering purchasing your first home it’s crucial that you establish a list of needs vs wants. Your needs list should include things that will truly make or break a deal. For example, if you absolutely need a three bedroom house than any home with less than that should not be a candidate.
Settling for Less
One mistake for many first time home buyers is buying a house that they are not really comfortable with. This can be caused by comparing it to another house they never got to see in person or seeing too many models online that are similar or simply comparing a reasonable home to the home of their dreams.
Regardless of why this happens, always make sure you can actually see yourself on a day to day basis spending time in your home and making it your own. And as they say, always stick with any gut feelings.
Focusing on the Interest Rate
Some people also make the mistake of focusing on getting a mortgage with as low an interest rate as possible without considering how much they will have to put down on their new home purchase.
Factoring into what you will be required to put down on a home and the estimated closing costs is a key component. After all, you don’t want to be in over your head before you’ve even made your first mortgage payment.
Not Getting Pre-Approved
Before starting to look at homes, it is incredibly important to be pre-approved for a mortgage loan first. This will allow you to not only understand where your costs will lie such as your mortgage payment, closing costs, and down payment, but it will also help you narrow down your search field to what you can truly afford.
Buying Too Much House
Purchasing a home for the first time doesn’t come with a general rule book. If you’ve never lived in a house of your own before, it’s hard to understand what is actually involved. When searching for your first home, it’s important to choose a home that fits your needs well.
Many first time home buyers have high expectations on what they will need extra space for in the future and end up purchasing too large of a home while wasting not only well-earned money but also letting space go to waste.
Be Well Prepared
Buying a house is a huge step! And while most people think they know what they are doing, according to a survey of first time homebuyers, there are still some mistakes that almost everyone makes.
Using these tips to reduce your chances of making big mistakes while purchasing your first home will not only save you stress and time but potentially a lot of money. Do your research and become well versed on how the home buying process works and you can successfully buy your first home while hopefully avoiding some mistakes along the way.
