Wednesday, September 22, 2010

By Mary Barney

First time home buyers generally feel a lot of tension during the house purchasing event. The financial and psychological benefits of buying a home for the first time do not shock most people. However, there are a few things that everybody considering buying their first house must know prior to beginning the process.

The first thing to be aware of is that purchasing a house is complicated, and employing a real estate agent will make the process much easier. The real estate agent plays a valuable roll, by giving the homebuyer with a lot of home and community information he or she would otherwise not have. The home purchasing process is difficult the whole way through; you will need your realtor every step of the way.

Next, the first time homebuyer should have a pretty good impression of what he or she wants before beginning the procedure. If there are essential features you are looking for in your first house, build a list of them beforehand. Your realtor is not a mind reader, if you tell her what you are searching for, this will help to narrow down your hunt. If there are specific features you are looking for in the neighborhood you live in, share these with your agent also.

Then, consider questioning lenders before looking at homes. Interviewing mortgage lenders is the only way to guarantee yourself that you are getting the best deal possible on your mortgage. Come up with a loan sum that fits your economic limits before you interview lenders. If your lender offers you more than you have determined you can afford, you do not need to take it all.

Fourth, when you begin going to houses for sale, you ought to bring a notebook and a camera. Realtors take the average client to see an average of 5 and 10 properties; several of them will have features you want to remember. Scoring homes between 1-10 as you view them and taking pictures of your favorite features can help you remember which homes best fit your qualification. Take notes on community features as well; this is just as important as recalling the best features of the properties you view. If you really like the first home you see, don't worry about writing down notes and purchase it; you are not likely to find another perfect home, and you could lose it if you don?t act fast.

Finally, beware that there are several expenses involved in buying a house. People that have not been through the home buying procedure previously may be aware of the down payment cost, but they may not realize there will be other financial obligations involved. Whatever the entire cost of the home, you will have to have 1-3% of it as a down payment. Previous to that, you will have to have earnest money. When you make your initial offer, you put earnest money down so the seller acknowledges your sincerity. The homebuyer will also incur some closing costs, which consists of anything needed to process the deal. You need to be prepared to pay all of these costs from the outset of the home purchasing process.

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