Are You Ready to Be a First Time Homebuyer?

Written by Marybeth Heckler on . Posted in Real Estate.

Home ownership, for most Americans, is both a dream and a sign of financial independence. But buying a home can be a scary proposition for many first-timers who may not understand everything about this complex process.

Here are some steps you need to take to become a first-time homebuyer:

  1. Get your down payment together

First-time homebuyers can generally get a loan with as little as 3% down. However, this may come with additional fees and requirements such as having to buy private mortgage insurance. Twenty percent is often a better option for a down payment, but that can put home ownership out of most people’s range. A good 10% down means $10,000 for every $100,000 of a home that you want to buy.

  1. Research mortgages

Next, you are going to want to look at different mortgage options. Become familiar with conventional loan programs like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. If you are a veteran, you can also look into VA loans that may require no down payment.

  1. Set your budget

Look at your finances and determine what you can afford to spend each month on a mortgage. This will prevent you from wasting time looking at houses that are outside of your budget range and keep you from getting in over your head with a mortgage that you can’t afford.

  1. Shop around for interest rates

Don’t take the first bank you look at as the best for interest rates. Saving just a fraction of a percentage point has the possibility to save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

  1. Get pre-approved

One of the best things that you can do as a first-time homebuyer is to come to your real estate agent armed with a pre-approval from a local bank. This can give you an advantage when you make an offer on a home as an owner will generally choose someone with pre-approval over someone without it.

  1. Research the neighborhoods

If you are looking for a home, you need to list out the amenities you are looking for—such as proximity to public transit or shopping sites or the quality of the schools. Once you start looking at neighborhoods, be sure that they fit into these qualifications. Before you make an offer on a home, you should also research the crime rate for that area.

  1. Don’t forget about closing costs

Another thing you need to do when you are calculating your budget is to remember to figure in closing costs. Estimate between 2% and 5% of your total loan when you are making this figure.

Being a first-time homebuyer can be an exciting (and terrifying) prospect. But with a lot of research and acquired knowledge, you can take the nervousness out of this process and perhaps even find the home of your dreams.

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Whether you’re buying, selling, refinancing, or building your dream home, I’m here to help you explore the many financing options available. Ensuring that you make the right choice for you and your family is my ultimate goal. I am committed to providing my customers with mortgage services that exceed their expectations. Find out more by visiting my website.

Tips for Jumping into the Spring Homebuying Season

Written by Marybeth Heckler on . Posted in Real Estate.

If you know anything about the home real estate market, then you know that spring is the biggest season for home buying. Buyers have been cooped up in their old homes all winter and are looking to move while sellers have had the same time frame to get their homes ready for sale.

But, if you’re looking to get into the homebuying market, then there are a few tips you should take care of before you start shopping.

  1. Make a list—Before you talk with a real estate agent, you should write out all of the must-haves that you want in a house. How many bedrooms and bathrooms will you need? Is there a specific location that you want? All of these will help narrow down the agent’s search so you don’t waste your time looking at houses that won’t work for you.
  2. Get your credit in line—A good FICO credit score is essential to buying a home. Let’s just say, hypothetically, you are buying a $300,000 home. A mortgage at 4.14% will run you a total of about $520,000. But if your credit is bad and your interest rate comes out to 5.73%, that same home will cost you about $630,000. That means that bad credit will make the same home cost you over $100,000 more than it would if you had good credit.
  3. Save as much as you can—One of the biggest problems with buying a home is that you have to keep a lot of cash on hand for down payments and emergencies. The more you put down, the better your interest rate and monthly payments will be. But you should also have at least 1-2 months of income set into savings for a potential emergency, such as a major home repair.
  4. Get preapproved—Because Spring is such a huge time for buying a home, you are going to be competing with a lot of other buyers that will be looking at the same prime properties. To make yourself look better to the sellers, you should arrive with a pre-approval from a local lender. These will generally carry more weight than a pre-approved loan from an online lender. You need to do everything that you can to make yourself look appealing to the seller.
  5. Be ready to negotiate—It isn’t enough to just make an offer, cross your fingers, and pray. In a competitive market, you will probably have to pay list price and not be able to haggle down on the price. But, you can still negotiate other areas like extended home warranties and closing costs. This can save you some money without asking too much that might wind up killing the deal.

This spring, thousands of homes, both old and new, will be placed on the market. If you want to jump into this “selling frenzy” then you need to get your finances in order and be ready to negotiate in order to be successful.

 

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Whether you’re buying, selling, refinancing, or building your dream home, I’m here to help you explore the many financing options available. Ensuring that you make the right choice for you and your family is my ultimate goal. I am committed to providing my customers with mortgage services that exceed their expectations. Find out more by visiting my website.

Your Checklist for Buying a Home This Winter

Written by Marybeth Heckler on . Posted in Real Estate.

Most people don’t think about buying a home during the winter. Spring is always considered the prime time for home buying, but winter does have advantages.

For one, you don’t have to worry about as much competition as most people won’t want to brave the cold to tour a lot of properties.

Because of this downturn in potential buyer traffic, homeowners may be more motivated to sell. And if you can visit the home right after a rain or snow storm, you will get a better idea as to how the house will respond during bad weather.

But if you are serious about buying a home this winter, here are some things to do before you move in.

Finances and Mortgages

Before you start looking at a home, take care of some planning earlier. It will help you focus your home search and save you some heartbreak when you find your dream home only to find out that you can’t afford it.

  • Take a close look at your finances including credit score, savings, and budget. Then use these to determine your ideal price range. You will need to know exactly how much you can put as a down payment and what you can afford comfortably on a monthly payment. It doesn’t make sense to spend so much on a house that you can’t afford to live comfortably in it.
  • Talk to at least three different lenders to see what types of pre-approvals you can get. When lenders know that you are looking at other banks, they will be a bit more competitive with their interest rates and can possibly get you a better deal.
  • Look at the duration of the loan. Obviously, a 30-year loan will have a lower monthly payment than a 20-year loan. But if you can afford to pay the lower duration, you will save a lot on interest in the long run.

Negotiations

Almost no one pays the asking price for a home. Buying a property is like a dance of offers and counter-offers. The following steps may turn negotiations in your favor:

  • Look at other home sales in the area to find what would be a fair, comparable price for your bid.
  • Get the home seller to agree to a warranty. This will help you sleep well at night knowing that your home is protected.
  • If you want any repairs made before moving in, be sure to clearly state these up front before you sign off on anything.
  • Get an appraisal and inspection from people you can trust. Don’t just go with the cheapest person in the phonebook. Instead, choose highly reputable people that will give you a fair assessment of the house and its value. If the inspector finds something wrong with the property, get the item fixed before you buy the home and make sure that the inspector can come back out to reinspect the work to make sure it was done correctly.
  • Do a thorough final walk-through and be sure to check out all the electrical outlets and faucets to see that they are working properly.

Once you get these steps complete, you are ready to sign on the dotted line and move in. This is another time when a winter home purchase is a bonus, because moving companies have less business, and are more willing to cut you a deal. With luck and perseverance, you should be able to move into your dream home and enjoy the next stage of your life.

 

 

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Whether you’re buying, selling, refinancing, or building your dream home, I’m here to help you explore the many financing options available. Ensuring that you make the right choice for you and your family is my ultimate goal. I am committed to providing my customers with mortgage services that exceed their expectations. Find out more by visiting my website.