Buying your very first own home can be overwhelming somehow, especially if you are a first-time home buyer. Probably this is one of the biggest purchases of your entire life, but the process may seem a little bit complicated and distressed with the unfamiliar lingo and expenses. We want all the best for our readers so for the entire first-time home buying journey somehow a little stressful; we compiled these tips to help you and to guide you with process smoothly and at the same save a little money.
- Know your budget – The first thing to do before buying your first home is to make sure it is indeed the right time to do so. Owning a home pays off financially and I mean it generally speaking if you live in it for at least 5 to 10 years. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with renting an apartment. Your expenses may vary but you can play with the scenarios and try to compute your rent versus the possible amount that you are going to spend in buying your new home. Do not treat your home as an investment. You are going to appreciate it in no time but you should consider buying one because you want your so called home and not an investment at all. Be clear on the decisions that you are going to make. Remember, this will be your home for the next 5 years or more.
- Decide with your partner – I am pretty sure that you are going to buy your very first home together with your soon to be better half or your better half, sit and discuss what you guys want. Starting from the appliances and the possible designated rooms in your home, write it on a separate sheet of paper. Once you are both done with the list, take a minute and talk about what you guys wrote on the paper. Discuss everything from scratch and ask each other why you need this and that in your home. This tip is very helpful and it works 99% all the time. Imagine if you decided everything that is inside your house and you have no idea at all that your partner does not approve it? What do you think might happen? Of course, you will set another budget to remove that and input this. Does it make any sense? So from now on, decide everything with your partner and take all the time that you both need when you plan on buying a home for your future.
- Recycle Furniture – Do not be afraid to use your old furniture in your new home. It will totally help you save a lot of money. Me and my husband moved out from his parent’s home when we were both 24 years old and we started only with 1 mattress with no bed frame and now, we are so close in having our very own home! You see there is nothing wrong when you start from scratch and like they always say “good things come to those who wait” and here we are, we waited patiently and everything is going well. Buying everything in rush will not do well in your favor. Trust me! Once you rush on buying things for your new home, you tend to forget to not spend every little penny that you have with you. If you don’t want to sleep on the floor with your mattress then you can always build a tiny frame for your bed. Simple as that!
- Mortgage Options – This is one of the most important parts of having your own home. Consider having a mortgage and it will depend on how long you plan on staying in your home. Do you have any idea about the ARM or Adjustable-rate mortgage? Well that will be one of your best options and it depends on the outstanding balance of the life of your loan and its initial interest rate is fixed for a period of time and it resets often every year or even monthly. Choose your mortgage options wisely to avoid any complication in the near future.
- Online Tools – Look for online tool calculator to check on how much house you can afford with your current salary. A little piece of advice, do not go more than 30% up to 40% of your annual income on home ownership and it includes your property tax, insurance, mortgage and etc., because it is not worth it. Stick for 29% or less and do not expect that you are going to get your ultimate dream house as the scenario will change based on your annual income combined. I know that it is for your own but spending all for the house and forget about yourself and your family is different than owning a house. Family is more important than material things and always keep that in mind.
- Lifestyle – If you are planning to buy a new home, look for a beautiful home that is based on your lifestyle and not the lifestyle that you aim to have. For example is that we looked for smaller yards or yards without large lawns and the reason is that our lifestyle and gardening are not compatible. Who does not want to have a large green lawn at home? I am sure all of us does but the problem is that we don’t have all the time to maintain it and we need to hire a gardener just to keep it clean and green. Do you get my point? If not then here’s one more example, do not build a theater in your basement if you are the type of person who loves to spend more time outside rather than inside your home.
- Protecting your investments – One of the important things when it comes to protecting your investment is to get a good insurance. You need to get a good insurance company and you need to be aware of what is covered and what is not. Before you move in to your new home, do not forget to change all the locks of the entire home from basement up to the cellar. Consider investing to home security and the cheapest home security for starters is cameras in your front and back door. Of course do not forget to adopt a dog for security and companion purposes!
- Wrong advice – Some of your colleagues and families will definitely advice you on buying the biggest house that you can afford and that my friend is a very terrible decision. Buy the house that you can afford today and take some considerations for tomorrow’s needs. You don’t need to rush everything and besides, your first home will most likely not your last home. Tomorrow’s needs are the number one thing that most of the families need. So my advice for you is that, buy a home that is below your means and do not go further than that limit.
- Borrowing money – Asking your friends and family for help in getting your own home is a good thing but there is also a down side of it. If you asked them so much that in a way that they want you to pay for it in the future then that would be pain in the ass. Neither way will it just add up more stress in your life that you don’t even need in the first place. This is definitely true even if they are willing to give you the money without you asking but you will eventually pay for it because you are shy. If they offer you and insisted then it is all up to you.
- Skimping on essentials – For first-time home owners, it is essential to have your house inspected as part of the program in every community or place that you are going to get a house with. It will cost you a lot of money but eventually it is needed to avoid more expenses spent in the future and it is way better than being stuck in a house full of flaws that needed to be fixed. Also consider getting a radon inspection because you don’t want to have a radioactive gas in your home. You can find a DIY radon inspection tools online but I am not so sure about the price or if you like, you can Google radon inspection near me and it will display prices as well.
- Agent vs Seller – Agents and sellers are different but they have the same goal and that is to sell you the house that they aim to sell. If I were you, I will let my agent do all the groundwork needed for my new home. One of their job as an agent is to give their client all the best that they can possibly give you. Give them a list of the questions that you want to get the answers from the houses, neighbors, HOA’s and many more! Remember that once you get a home from an agent, it means that you are paying them too because that includes in the package already. Agents and sellers got their own commissions without you knowing it. Do not be afraid to ask all the questions that you want an answer and make use if your money and let them do their job. Well technically speaking you are not paying them directly but the seller will give a share to the agent assigned to you. Some of them will even say that it is okay if you asked them to do things but deep inside they are annoyed and that is true. (I don’t want to offend everyone but this is based on my experience!)
- Checking your neighborhood – One of the tricks to finding a successful location of your new home is to check out your entire neighborhood. In a good way of course like driving around the neighborhood and talk to all the people that you encounter along the way. Feel the place and take all the time that you need and start making friends but do not be overly confident because some of them will find you creepy at all! Tell them that you are planning to move in and join their community and see how they react to you.
- Home purchase – Purchasing a home is often called a process of elimination. You need to start looking for homes that matches your criteria using the online tools that I mentioned earlier. Filter every little detail like the costs, neighborhood, school districts, square footage and etc. Keep going until you are left with fewer options of homes that you can check out personally. Remember I said earlier that do not cross over your budget. Always save a little for rainy days because we don’t know when the bad luck will arrive and it is better to be prepared than nothing at all.
- Agents – The agents usually facilitates all the transaction. If you are not sure of what you really like for your home and you haven’t talked lately in person, it might possibly influence your decision making. Agents are smooth talkers and they are pushing you in your edge without you noticing it but if you ever feel like they are doing it to you, trust me and you better start running. Like literally RUN! You see what they aim is to sell the houses that they can get high commissions and some of them (especially to those not dedicated to their work) will sell you the house that is beyond your criteria and that my friend is not for you because of the debts that you are going to pay afterwards. Oh and by the way, agents do not know anything that there might be radon.
That is all it guys! Good luck in buying your first home and please do keep in your mind that everything can wait in the right time. You will just know if it is your time and once you found the home that you want to buy, make sure to check and follow all those steps above. Did we miss something? Please let us know with your comments below!
