The Ultimate Home Buyer Guide
You have decided that it is time to buy a new home. Whether it is your first home or your tenth home, there are steps you need to take to make sure you’re ready. You do not want to lose the perfect home because you missed something!
Use this guide to make sure that when the right home comes along, you’re the one moving in!
You want to ensure that you are in the best possible position financially, both before and after you buy your home. Consider all areas of your financial health. Put yourself in a new debt “freeze” zone. Don’t take on any new debt from this point on until you’ve closed on your new home. Of course, life happens and you may not be able to avoid it, but try to and make sure if you do have to take on a new debt, account for it immediately and make a plan to pay it off.
Next, if you are not planning on a cash purchase, make a down payment savings plan. While there are loan programs that require as little as 3% down, the more you have, the better your position. It can make a difference in the price range you qualify for. However, if you have assessed your existing debt and find that you do not have a lot of wiggle room, focus on getting that paid down first.
Nebraska Realty helps with the homebuying process, How Realtors® Help
Have a realistic idea of when you will be ready to start looking for your new home. If you are selling an existing home, have a firm handle on how long you need to get that accomplished. You do not want to start searching too early and fall in love with a home that you are not ready to make an offer on because your existing home needs to sell. You can consider making the sale of your home a contingency but you still need to know what that means.
Rocket Mortgage offers clarification with Contingent: A Guide To What It Means In Real Estate.
Home ownership does not stop costing money once the papers are signed. Take everything you think you will need to cover into consideration before you land on a price range. Think about your moving costs and closing costs. If you are comfortable looking at a fixer-upper, have a realistic idea of what kind of improvement costs you will be facing. Make sure that you know what your current home is really going to sell for if you need proceeds to purchase your new home. Do not forget to take into account what will be paid out of your sales proceeds as well (i.e.: repairs, liens, mortgage, etc.)
Nerd Wallet has a quick overview of how much house you can afford with their Affordability Calculator.
Once you are where you want to be financially and have targeted what you can afford, if you are not prepared to pay cash you should secure a lender ahead of time. This gives sellers confidence in your offer because they know that your qualifications have been checked in advance. You commonly hear both buyers agents & sellers agents encouraging the use of lenders that are local to the city or area you will live in. Being able to easily connect with the loan officer directly is incredibly important in the process. Your offer will be taken more seriously if you are preapproved, and likely given more weight if the lender is local. Not all lenders and loan programs are the same though. Check around and have multiple conversations with different loan officers. Compare loan costs & fees. Your Realtor® will be a great resource when it comes to honing in on the right lender for you.
You have done all of your pre-work. You educated yourself and prepared your finances. You know what you want, when you want it, where you want it, and how much you want to spend. It is time to find the perfect Realtor® to partner with and bring everything full circle.
Realtor.com has 6 Reasons You Should Never Buy or Sell a Home Without an Agent.
Let’s get started! Shoot me an email deda@nebraskarealty.com or give me a call 402.319.1568
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