If you are wanting to buy a home for the first time, you can really say that you are entering in to some real ‘adulting’ territory. Buying a home can be a hefty process but pretty much any one can do it with the right help and assistance these days. If you are only familiar with renting a home then this will be quite exciting. Owning your own house is a real step up in the world and can give you such a satisfied and accomplished feeling. However, you’ll have to keep in mind that now you are responsible for everything that goes wrong in the house so be careful what kind of house you choose. Here are the steps to follow in order to buy a house.
Find a local realtor
The first thing you need to do is find a realtor. You could look for houses on your own but realtors have access to homes that are not yet on the market and they will basically do all the work for you in looking. You’ll just have to tell them how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want, if you want a yard or other specifications as well as the area you want to look in and then they can get the ball rolling. They’ll probably sign you up for email reminders to look at certain places that they find. The main thing they’ll do however, is to hook you up with an investor so that you know what price range you’ll be looking in.
Get in contact with an investor
If you find a realtor that you like, they probably have an investor that they usually work with that they can get you in contact with. You’ll have to send income statement, tax records and other documentation to the investor in order for them to pre-qualify to to buy a home. They will probably give you the maximum that you qualify for and then ask where you’d like to stay. It’s easiest if you give them a monthly amount that you’d be willing to pay and then they can figure out about what that would be in terms of a loan. They will also advise you as to what you can do to hire than loan amount or if there’s something you can do to better qualify.
Pay off debt and build your credit
If you don’t get as big a loan as you want it might be that you need to pay off some debt or build your credit a little more. If this is the case then you should start doing this now. Do everything that you can to pay off credit cards and personal loans because this will free up more money as well as building your credit at the same time. Don’t be afraid to ask your lender to tell you exactly which things you need to pay in order to increase your loan so that you can start there first.
Start the search to buy a home
Once you have paid on your credit cards and personal loans, built up your credit and been pre qualified again, the next step is to be accepted. Once you have been accepted then you will be officially finalized for the mortgage of the home and you can look to buy a home. This is probably the most exciting part of the process but it might take a long time. Don’t rush, though. Take your time deciding on your first ever home. It doesn’t have to be extravagant but you deserve to get what you want.
Put in an offer for a house
Once you have found the home that you want, your realtor will put in a reasonable offer to sellers. If they accept your offer than you can get started on the paperwork. It sounds simple but there’s a lot that goes into this step. There are usually multiple bids being put in so there is not always a guarantee that the seller will accept yours. Also, make sure that you have an inspector come to the house and make sure everything is in order before making the offer. Once all of that is okay, the offer accepted and the paperwork signed, the house is yours to move in!