Buying a first home is often an overwhelming endeavor. Consumers get the feeling that their financial situation is rapidly getting out of control. Buying real estate is something most people have very little experience with or knowledge about. However, buying a home can be a simple and orderly process when you break it down to the basics. The following steps can help.
1. You’ll want to get preapproved for a mortgage as early in the process as possible. This gives you more time to understand your mortgage and all the complicated paperwork involved. This also lets the seller know that you are serious about buying, and will normally work in your favor to give you a negotiating edge - which is especially handy if there are several others interested in purchasing the home. Getting preapproved will also save you a lot of time as well. If you can’t get approved for a loan, you shouldn’t waste your time going through the process until you have your mortgage problems solved.
2. Watch out for any prepayment penalty which might be included in the loan proposals you are given by your loan originator. Accepting a prepayment penalty may cause you to pay many thousands extra if you need to sell or refinance the home during the first two to three years. Even with credit problems, you can find many loan programs which do not include a prepayment penalty. If your mortgage banker proposes a loan which has a prepayment penalty, you should most likely turn it down and continue your loan search. One caveat here, though. If your credit is bad enough that you will have no chance of qualifying for a different loan for a couple of years, you might consider accepting a “soft” prepayment penalty. This penalty would only apply if you refinance the loan and not if you sell the property.
3. Mortgage rates will probably fluctuate substantially over the next years. It would be wise to stay aware of good adjustable rate mortgages. I know that you have been told many horror stories about ARMs causing many people to lose their homes, but this is vastly overblown. Most foreclosures are occurring before borrowers’ rates adjust. If you obtain a good quality adjustable rate mortgage, you could save many thousands over just a couple of years. FHA adjustable rate mortgages are a perfect example of this. They have strict borrower friendly adjustment limits, are completely free of any possible negative amortization (your loan balance will never go up, only down as you make payments), and a simple streamlined refinance process requiring no requalification as long as your payments have been on time.
4. Before buying a home, make certain you know how much you can comfortably afford. Review the details of your family budget and determine how much you are realistically very comfortable paying on a home. If you already an efficient financial manager, this will be a quick process. It will surely take much longer if your finances are disorganized, but the effort will prove very rewarding. Your finances should be in order before buying a home anyway. At any rate, you should never rely on your loan officer and real estate agent to tell you how much qualify for. It is very easy for them to get you approved for a home you cannot comfortably afford. Both get paid more when you buy a higher priced home. However, they will not be there to help you make the payments later.
5. Once you have your finances in order, the first thing that you should do is to familiarize yourself with home prices in the area in which you want to live. Do not make a great effort to match yourself up with a home at this time. Check prices in the area online so that you know what people are asking for homes, but then be sure to check for foreclosed homes to take advantage of today’s difficult housing market. It is a buyer’s real estate market. For your first home, you are better off choosing a home for investment value than trying to get the perfect dream house. You want to buy a home for at least 10% to 20% less than similar homes which have sold. This way you are primed to take advantage of buying in a down market with little risk and making out like a bandit a couple of years later when you are ready to move up. Don’t expect to pay full market value for a home even when prices are depressed and then benefit from inflation to build your equity. The other homes you will want to buy will be going up too. You make your money when you buy at the right price.
The items listed above are just a few basic tips and there is much more you will need to learn to get the best deal on your first home. It is crucial to educate yourself before you get into the market. Most first time homebuyers skip this step and severely handicap themselves right out of the gate. Many previous buyers are paying the price for that in today’s real estate market. Don’t be scared out of the market by their mistakes. Educate yourself and you can still come out ahead.