Buying a home can be a very stressful process. There are a lot of options out there and you want to make sure you find your “dream home”. We have helped sell homes all over the Rochester area and have also been in the buying process as well. Here are 7 tips to help you buy your home.
1. Start saving early and explore down payment and mortgage options.
It is very common for most homeowners to put 20% down on a house. Putting down less can mean higher costs and paying more for mortgage expenses. Here is a down payment calculator that can help you figure out the best option.
There are multiple different loans that you can use as well if you can’t come up with a down payment. Conventional, FHA and VA are all different versions of loans that one can use depending on their situation.
2. Evaluate your credit.
Your credit score has a direct impact on how much you pay for your home. Lenders like to loan money to people with a good credit score because they will pay back. Therefore those with a better credit score have a better opportunity to get a lower interest rate. If you plan on buying a house make sure you are looking in to building a better credit score. An easy step to improving your score is to not spend money you don’t have and pay your bills on time.
3. Determine your budget.
Figure out how much money you can spend on your house. Use this home affordability calendar to determine a reasonably priced house for your budget.
4. Compare a variety of mortgage rates to get the best one.
There are home buyers that skip this step and don’t spend time researching a variety of lenders. Compare different rates from at least 3 vendors to save money. When getting your quotes, determine if you have the ability to buy discount points which allows you to prepay interest points to lower your interest rate. There are many factors that go in to loans that can save you thousands of dollars if you evaluate alternatives.
5. Make a list of your home wants and needs.
Determine what you want in a home. Start by determining the home necessities. This includes how many bedrooms and bathrooms you will need. What do you want in a kitchen and living room. Do you want a home office? how much land would you like? These are all steps that you need to go through to narrow down your research so that you don’t get overwhelmed. You must also determine what you want in the area to make sure you have completely narrowed down options to make the research process much easier.
6. Hire a good buyers agent and use research tools to find good options.
Hiring a good buyers agent can be critical. Finding one you get along with and one that is knowledgeable, skilled and invested in the market you are looking in will make all the difference. We work with agents from Howard Hanna and Re-max in the Rochester area.
Use tools like Zillow to find a home. It is important to do a lot of research online before you start driving around and visiting homes. Determine your budget and the area and then look at Zillow for a few options that you would like to check out.
You will want to check out nearby schools, neighborhood safety, nearby stores for grocery shopping and buying necessities and meet some of the neighbors of the home you are researching. There are many times where a home can be perfect, but the neighbors and area aren’t as great.
Follow these tips to help you buy your dream home
Yes, there are obviously more steps to buying a house. However, I wanted to outline the important ones for you as you begin this process. Buying a home is very exciting, but will take a lot of time to research both your home and financials. Do not skip steps in the process. A home is a very expensive investment so you want to evaluate all alternatives possible to make the right purchase.