Buying a house is a daunting task and requires a lot of money, time and effort. The task becomes more complex if you are a first time buyer. First thing that you should keep in mind is that you will need to look for real estate agents who can help you to find the right home. This article will make your process manageable and will help you to buy the home of your dreams. Here are few steps that you can follow:
Do your research as early as possible- Read newspaper, magazines or visit online portals to get information on the homes that are available for buying. Note down the homes that you wish to buy and check how long do they stay in market. Keep a track on the prices because it keeps on changing. This will give you an idea on current trends in housing in specific regions. You can also take help from real estate agents to get more information.
Decide how much house you will be able to afford- You should be able to understand your financial condition before purchasing a home. You should be able to pay 20% of the down payment. You can use online calculators to check your affordability. The lenders usually recommend buying homes which are twice or thrice the price of your annual income. Know you financial capability and take help from the real estate agents to help you find properties that are within your budget.
Get prequalified for a mortgage- Before you start searching for new homes, you should have prequalified for a mortgage. You just need to produce certain information like your savings, income and investment. Your lender will calculate and will let you know the amount that they can lend you for the same. You will be given an idea on the price range of the homes that you should take a look at.
Look for the right agent- There are many real estate agents in the market. You need to choose the reliable and professional one. They are the real partners who will stay with you right from searching the home till you buy the property. Their knowledge on the process of home buying, skills of negotiation and bargaining and their familiarity with the area will give you valuable information. You will not need to pay anything to an agent. That is the best part. They will get commission from the seller of the house. Therefore, real estate agents play a very important role in buying homes.
Visit the sites as much as possible- Once you get all the information, you should start visiting the sites that is within your budget. Since you will be visiting a lot of houses, you can take pictures of them or you won’t be able to keep a track on all the details. Once you visit a site, make sure you check the interiors, exteriors as well as the electrical gadgets of the house. The real estate agents should not be lethargic and should be overwhelmed to take you on site visits.
Complete the paper works- After completing site visits; you should now work with a mortgage bank to get a home loan. Once your loan is sanctioned, the lenders will assess the value of the house which you have selected for buying. As you know that buying a house requires a lot of paper work, the lender will make arrangements for a title company to ensure that the seller of the property is the original owner and to hand over all the paper works.
The final stage is to close the sale. This will include signing of all the legal papers to complete the purchase. Therefore, you need to follow these basic steps to buy the home of your choice.
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