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Buying a first home is extremely overwhelming. While we had an awesome realtor who walked us through everything step by step, and we did a lot of research ourselves, it was still a lot to take in.
Along with getting excited about the adventure that lies ahead of you, it is perfectly natural to feel a little fear or agitation over it too, after all you are stepping into the unknown and mortgages are a significant financial undertaking.
When we first started hearing the words, mortgage, homeowners insurance, property taxes, etc., we started to really freak out. It was the uncertainty of everything. We had been renting for several years so signing on that dotted line to own our own home, was scary, while also being exciting.
We'd finally be able to have our own space to decorate, paint, entertain, etc without having to worry about neighbors that we shared a wall or ceiling/floor with. The kids would both have their own bedrooms for the first time in almost 10 years and I'd have my own space for working.
4 Essential and Easy Steps To Buying A First Home
Get your finances in place
The first thing that you need to do is get your finances in place. You could go directly to a mortgage lender or you might choose to use a mortgage broker, such as Altrua Financial, to get your advice. They will be able to tell you how much you can afford to borrow based on your current income and expenditure and credit report.
Your mortgage lending, along with your saved deposit will be the total that you have to offer on a home. Armed with the amount that you can afford to purchase at, along with an understanding of how much this will cost you to pay back every month, you can begin looking around for your home.
Define all that you want from your first home
When it comes to buying a first home, or even a second home, know what you want. Draw up a list of everything that is absolutely essential to you and then think about those things that you would like to have but are willing to compromise on.
You need to think about things such as location, property size, any exterior space, the parking situation, style of home, number of rooms and so on.
Enjoy the property hunt
This is the fun bit! You can get out there and start looking at potential properties that suit your list of requirements.
If you are open to carrying out some remodelling and work on your new home then that will add an extra dimension to your property hunt. You will be able to view properties that other people might choose to pass over and you might well be able to bag yourself a bargain home. Do just ensure that if you go down this route that you do budget properly for any home renovations to ensure that you are going to end up with a good deal.
Make those offers, applications and plans
When you buying a first home for your family, you can make an offer on it. When we put our offer in for 3 homes, we also wrote a letter to the owners telling them what we loved about the home and introduced ourselves a little. Sometimes, if you write a letter, it helps the previous owners know a little bit more about the family who is moving in.
If your offer is accepted then you can begin making applications and plans. You will need to place a formal mortgage application now and instruct a real estate attorney to manage your purchase for you.
You might also want to hire a moving company and you can start planning any furniture and remodelling purchases, though we would recommend that you wait until the sale is going through before placing any orders.
Since we were so ready to move out of our apartment, we started packing super quick, even before we found our home. I was having surgery, so I wanted to have as much packed and ready so that my husband and our sons didn't have to worry about much. I'm glad I did that too, my surgery ended up getting moved to just 10 days before we moved into our home, so preparing helped a lot.
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