Home Shopping Advice For First Time Home Buyers
This Article Is About Home Shopping Advice For First Time Home Buyers The home buying and mortgage process is a process. There are many moving parts when buying a home. Most homebuyers need a mortgage. The real estate agent needs to work closely with the loan officer. The loan officer needs to make sure the borrower is fully qualified prior to issue a pre-approval letter. The number one home shopping advice is to make sure to hire a real estate agent and loan officer with who the buyers can get along. Experienced is a must when selecting a realtor and/or loan officer. In this blog, we will discuss home shopping advice for home buyers.
Being Prepared To Shop For Homes
- How much can I afford versus qualify
- Property taxes
- Is the property in a flood zone
- Distance to work
- Distance to major expressways
- Distance to school
- Is living near the main road a problem?
- Living near railroad tracks and/or major airports?
- Living next to an apartment complex
- Living next to high school
- Any other considerations that may be important in buying a home
All of the above considerations should be taken into consideration prior to shopping for a home. Home shopping advice to home buyers, especially first-time homebuyers, is to make a checklist on what is important to you and your family prior to starting the home shopping process.
Priorities Important To Home Buyers
Prior to shopping for homes, make a checklist on priorities important to you and your family. Not all home buyers have the same tastes. Some folks do not like buying a corner lot. Others do not want to purchase a home near a busy road. While others do not want to purchase a home that is far from the expressways. Some home buyers with children want their children to go to a certain school district. Others want to be near a shopping center, gas station, expressway, schools, restaurants, grocery stores, child care, transportation. Certain priorities are more important than others. It depends on the individual and their families.
Type And Size Of Home
Home shopping advice for homebuyers is the type of home to purchase.
- Condominium?
- Townhouse?
- Single-Family Home?
- Two to four-unit homes?
- Young professionals who often travel and do not have time to do home maintenance may prefer a condominium or townhouse
- Homebuyers with small children and pets needing a yard may benefit from a single-family home
- Homebuyers who have their parents living with them and/or in-laws may benefit from a 2 to 4 unit property
Take some time and take into consideration the type and size of home that benefits you and your family.
Property Taxes
A very important piece of home shopping advice for home buyers is to pay attention to property taxes. Property taxes vary from state to state, county to county, city to city. A $100,000 home can have $2,000 property tax in one county and $6,000 in another county. A $500 difference in monthly property taxes is equivalent to a $120,000 mortgage loan balance. You can get a lot of house for the money by buying a home with lower property taxes.
Buying Home In Appreciating Area
A home purchase is one’s largest investment. Research the property values in the area. Alex Carlucci, a senior vice president at Gustan Cho Associates, is a real estate market expert. Alex states the following:
Are property values going up in the area where you want to live? Are they going down instead? Is the type of home you need hard to find in your market or are the kinds of houses you’re interested in typically available in your region? Do you want to rule out houses in known flood zones or other natural disaster hazard areas? These are all critical things to consider when getting ready to start the search for your first home.
For more information on this topic and other related mortgages/real estate topics, please contact us at Gustan Cho Associates at 800-900-8569 or text us for a faster response. Or email us at gcho@gustancho.com.
