When you buy your first home, it's easy to get caught up in the fun of looking at houses and imagining life in your first home. You also might be worried about managing mortgage payments and dealing with chores of being a homeowner. The following tips might ease some of your worries about buying that first home.
You probably have some pretty clear ideas in your head about the style and size of home you want and perhaps even an ideal town or neighborhood, but before you start hitting Open Houses, you need to figure out how much you can afford to spend. Pre-qualification can be a helpful tool for getting an idea of your mortgage costs. This is a simple process where you contact a lender by phone or perhaps online and give them a very general picture of your finances, and the lender gives you a very general idea of how much of a loan you might be able to secure.
Many people mistakenly believe that pre-qualifying means you absolutely can get a specific loan amount. It doesn't. It's just an estimate of how much you might be able to borrow, but with this in mind you can begin crunching numbers and setting up a reasonable monthly budget. First you need to write down every monthly expense you have. This includes car payments, utility payments, cable payments, gym memberships, student loan expenses, gasoline costs, food costs, entertainment expenses and much more. Remember you will be paying property tax for the home and you also will need homeowners insurance. Many houses also are located within an association, and there could be a hefty monthly fee for this as well.
After you work it all out and decide what fits within your comfort zone, then you need to go to a lender and begin the process known as loan pre-approval. This is a much bigger deal than pre-qualifying. The lender will run your credit report, study your income, look at your debts and assets and determine a figure that they are willing to lend to you. It might end up being less than the pre-qualifying amount but it's far more accurate and it's much better to have this loan pre-approval before finding the house you want to buy.
When searching for homes, the most important aspects to consider are the location of a home and the "bones" of a home. A busy street, an undesirable neighborhood or a home too far away from your workplace, friends and family all might make the home's location undesirable. Just remember, the location can never be changed nor can the size of the yard and, for the most part, the size of the home. However, you can change wall colors, knock down some walls, rip out wallpaper and update floors and countertops. Perhaps you cannot do that right away, but if the home has a good layout with good-sized rooms and the location is great, this might be an excellent choice if it's comfortably within your price range.
In Texas, one of the most desirable areas is Texas Hill Country, and if you want to search for homes for sale in Fredericksburg or homes for sale in Kerrville or perhaps San Antonio, contact a real estate firm that specializes in this popular Texas region. Nixon Real Estate has been helping clients find homes in this area for more than three decades and can help first-time home buyers through the entire process of finding and buying their new home.
You probably have some pretty clear ideas in your head about the style and size of home you want and perhaps even an ideal town or neighborhood, but before you start hitting Open Houses, you need to figure out how much you can afford to spend. Pre-qualification can be a helpful tool for getting an idea of your mortgage costs. This is a simple process where you contact a lender by phone or perhaps online and give them a very general picture of your finances, and the lender gives you a very general idea of how much of a loan you might be able to secure.
Many people mistakenly believe that pre-qualifying means you absolutely can get a specific loan amount. It doesn't. It's just an estimate of how much you might be able to borrow, but with this in mind you can begin crunching numbers and setting up a reasonable monthly budget. First you need to write down every monthly expense you have. This includes car payments, utility payments, cable payments, gym memberships, student loan expenses, gasoline costs, food costs, entertainment expenses and much more. Remember you will be paying property tax for the home and you also will need homeowners insurance. Many houses also are located within an association, and there could be a hefty monthly fee for this as well.
After you work it all out and decide what fits within your comfort zone, then you need to go to a lender and begin the process known as loan pre-approval. This is a much bigger deal than pre-qualifying. The lender will run your credit report, study your income, look at your debts and assets and determine a figure that they are willing to lend to you. It might end up being less than the pre-qualifying amount but it's far more accurate and it's much better to have this loan pre-approval before finding the house you want to buy.
When searching for homes, the most important aspects to consider are the location of a home and the "bones" of a home. A busy street, an undesirable neighborhood or a home too far away from your workplace, friends and family all might make the home's location undesirable. Just remember, the location can never be changed nor can the size of the yard and, for the most part, the size of the home. However, you can change wall colors, knock down some walls, rip out wallpaper and update floors and countertops. Perhaps you cannot do that right away, but if the home has a good layout with good-sized rooms and the location is great, this might be an excellent choice if it's comfortably within your price range.
In Texas, one of the most desirable areas is Texas Hill Country, and if you want to search for homes for sale in Fredericksburg or homes for sale in Kerrville or perhaps San Antonio, contact a real estate firm that specializes in this popular Texas region. Nixon Real Estate has been helping clients find homes in this area for more than three decades and can help first-time home buyers through the entire process of finding and buying their new home.
About the Author:
Pammy McGrath enjoys reading real estate blogs. If you are looking for licensed real estate Fredericksburg TX agents, or to find a homes for sale in Fredericksburg TX, please check out the NixonRealEstate.com website now.
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