Deciding When to Buy Your First Home
When you consider that it is time to stop renting and to buy your first home, you should
first consider the following issues before making that all-important decision:
Generally speaking, the longer that you plan to remain in a residence, the more
advantageous it is to own a home instead of continuing to pay rent.
Now is not the time to buy a home if you just had a nice increase in salary. Save the
additional income for a year, or two, and use it for a down payment on a home. You'll
find that you're much better off at that time.
Now would be a good time to purchase a home if you have just received a lump sum amount
(from any source) that would make a suitable down payment on a home.
Current market conditions are favorable for buying a home if the price of a house is not
more than renting for the next 20 years. If you were renting a home for $750 per month, your
rental payments would total $180,000 in 20 years. Now would be a good time to buy if you
could purchase a home of the same quality for less than $180,000, providing you had an
available down payment. Call one of our mortgage specialists today to find out how to purchase a
home with no out-of-pocket money.
Deciding in What Area to Buy
The first step is to make a list of the criteria that is most important to you, the second
step is to identify the neighborhood in which you would like to live, and finally focus
on those neighborhoods that best meet your criteria. Carefully consider the following factors
when you are researching a particular area to live in:
- Inspect the neighborhood thoroughly to determine its amenities.
- Determine if the average price range of homes in the area fluctuates greatly.
- Find out if this area is in a flood zone or has the potential to flood.
- Determine how far this area is from local fire and police departments.
- Determine the commuting time from this area to your place of employment.
- Determine the distance from this area to a church that you would like to attend.
- If you have children, find out if there are other children in this area of similar age.
- If you have children, determine the quality of the schools they will be attending.
- Check with the local police department to determine the crimes rates for the area.
Making Sure That You Get What You Pay For
When possibly making the largest investment of your life, it makes sense to remove as much of
the risk as possible. This can be accomplished by taking sensible steps well before the
property changes hands. Many issues can be easily resolved if they are addressed early in the
purchase process. The following 4 items should be taken into account when purchasing a home:
Locate a reputable realtor to represent your interests. If you contact the realtor that has
listed the property, their first responsibility will be to the seller.
Click here to view a list of local realtors.
Have the home completely inspected, from top to bottom, by a licensed house inspector
if this is a pre-owned home. As a matter of fact, this is a requirement of most lenders
today and the cost for the inspection is usually the seller's responsibility.
If a pre-owned home, have the home inspected for termites by a reputable pest inspector.
You should receive a copy of the "Termite Certificate" which will be issued by the
company that performed the inspection. This is also a requirement of all lenders and again
the cost is usually the responsibility of the seller.
Hire a real estate attorney to make sure that all documents are properly completed and
filed. Most lenders and mortgage brokers have reputable attorneys available for this purpose
and will be glad to do this for you.
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