Purchasing Your First Home
63When you are renting a house or apartment about the only thing that you have to worry about is making sure that you have the monthly payment and maybe the utilities paid for. When you decide to buy a home there is so much more that you have to consider than just monthly payments and utilities. The first thing that you should do is figure out just what type of home that you want to purchase. This is going to be your first home so you should get what you want. If you want a certain type of layout, a certain size kitchen, a ranch style house with one or two floors, then you should be looking at houses that have these qualities. If you are a young couple who are considering starting a family at some time in the future, you need to figure in the number of bedrooms you want your home to have to accommodate a family of more than two.
Know just what type of neighborhood that you want to live in, and whether you have children now or are planning to have them, you need to decide about the school district and how close you want to live to the school. Once you have the idea of what type of home you are looking for and where you want to live, it is time to find a real estate agent.
- Common Pitfalls of First-Time Homebuyers
When you are considering buying your first home it can be an overwhelming task. Before you even begin your search there are some common pitfalls that can happen to a first-time home buyer. - Mortgage Calculator
Get estimated payments for the mortgage on your next Denver home. - Denver
Search Denver Multiple Listing Service for Denver Homes and Condos for sale - Denver Real Estate MLS Listings.
Yes, you can buy a home without hiring a real estate agent, but if you are a first time home buyer, having a real estate agent help you with the intricate process of buying a home. Make sure that you find one that is knowledgeable, and seems interested in actually helping you to find that special house. To find that right real estate agent you can ask friends and family for a recommendation, or visit the different agencies and talk to the agents there to find one that you feel comfortable working with.
If you find that special home, but it is a little out of your budget do not hesitate to negotiate with the seller or let your real estate agent do the negotiating. You should also make sure that you are pre-approved so you know what your budget is and to make sure that you can get a home loan. Before you sign the papers, take a day to make sure that this is the house that you want because most home buyers are going to be in the house for several years. Taking time to think things through and know what you want will help you get the home that you desire.
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Good hub with plenty of useful information for any first time buyers out there. We bought our first house this year and had to follow most of your steps to get through it. It really can be a stressful time, but we managed to find a great house. It doesn't have everything we wanted from the location, but we found you really do have to weigh up your requirements and prioritise them. We ended up with a beautiful little house in a pretty good location!
Also, with the costs you have to remember, as we found out, about all the extra insurances you may need, for instance, Life insurance and Critical Health insurance which are suddenly so much more important. My partner and I also had to sort out some wills as we hadn't done so in the past, but now we own property that's also a great idea to get sorted. Of course, these things also add to the cost!
When I bought my first home, one thing I thought about was finance. I read THREE books on the different kinds of mortgages because I wanted to completely understand. I also checked whether there had been any toxic waste dumps in the area in the past for the house I decided on(this was a new tract of houses.) There was a creek nearby and mountains, so I investigated about floods. I found out that my house was on a 500 year flood plain, i.e., floods affecting my house are expected to occur every 500 years - good enough. I did a radon test when I first moved in. While it was being built, I kept checking the progress on weekends, to see if the builders were doing anything wrong. I looked at the blueprints for the house, and discovered the builder had forgotten about a pantry that was supposed to be included. He didn't believe it till I showed him on the blueprints. I did lots of other things but that gives you an idea.
greatstuff Level 5 Commenter 5 months ago
When I wanted to buy my 1st house, I was too critical on many issues; its design, location, neighborhood etc..with almost all properties not meeting my 'almost perfect criteria'. Many of my friends who weren't that critical, went ahead and bought their 1st house and later upgrade to better properties.
My advice is not to be like me and have a very long & difficult checklists. Just buy any that meet your budget and you can always upgrade later, when your income improves (and can make money when you sell your 1st house)The only criteria, besides meeting your budget, is to ensure the property that you buy, will have a good potential to resell.