The First Steps in Purchasing a Home

If you are considering purchasing a home, here are the first steps in the homebuying process.

What do you want your monthly payment to be?

Most people buying a house have previously rented, so they generally want their mortgage payment to be about the same as what they were paying in rent. Principle, interest, homeowner’s insurance, and taxes are all encompassed into your mortgage payment, so you’ll have to take that into consideration when factoring your costs.

Call a lender

Mortgage loan originators specifically work with home buyers, so it would be beneficial to reach out to one of them. If you don’t know any, you can of course do an internet search, or you could ask your friends or family to see who they recommend, or you can reach out to a real estate professional. Mortgage loan originators usually spend about 15 minutes with you over the phone pre-qualifying you, or they may have you fill out an application on their website. 

As a side note, pre-qualification is not the same as being pre-approved. You become pre-approved once you go through the mortgage loan orginator's pre-underwriting process. Being pre-approved holds more weight than being pre-qualified, but usually pre-qualification suffices. 

Why should you get pre-qualified or pre-approved? Well, we would hate for you to go out house searching, fall in love with a house, then find out that house is out of your price range. That would be very disheartening for all parties involved. Additionally, being that it is a seller’s market right now, the competition for houses can be fierce. So, if you are pre-qualified and put in an offer for the same amount as someone who is not pre-qualified, the seller is most likely to pick you because you can prove that you can afford the house.

Buyer’s Consultation

If you work with real estate professionals like us, we will sit down with you to do a buyer’s consultation. This is when we go over what kind of house you are looking for, then together we go through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to give you some insight into the neighborhoods and areas of the houses that fit your needs prior to actually going to see the houses. Other agents have you look for houses online yourself, then pick a few to go out and see with the agent.

Research the area

Look into the area that you are moving to, especially if you have never been there. Consider making a list of priorities such as commute time to work, the best school districts, proximity to activities, etc. then rank the areas of town that you would like to search for houses in based on the area’s proximity to your priorities.

If you have any further questions about purchasing a home, feel free to reach out to us, and we would be happy to assist you!

For more information on the homebuying process, check out these 5 major steps!