The challenge of buying a home for the first time can seem so daunting that it’s tempting to either just go with the first house that falls in your price range or continue to rent.
To demystify the process of home buying it is nice to have a Homebuying Step-by-Step (link) check-list that will highlight the important decisions that you need to make, before you start looking.
Before you start your search, you need to make sure that homeownership is right for you. Ask yourself some fundamental questions: Are you planning on relocating soon? Can I manage home repairs on my budget? With the large amount of money that you will be putting into your home, you’ll want to make sure to take excellent care of it. Regular maintenance can decrease your repair costs by allowing problems to be fixed when they are small and manageable.
Before you start searching for a home, think about your current and future housing needs, which location is right for you and what features are important to you in a home. The next question is, what type of home am I looking for? A traditional single-family home, a townhouse, a condo or a multi-family building with two to four units. Each option has its pros and cons, depending on your homeownership goals, so you need to decide which type of property will help you reach those goals.
While it’s good to retain some flexibility in what you want in a home, you’re making perhaps the biggest purchase of your life, and you deserve to have that purchase fit both your needs and wants as closely as possible. Your list should include basic desires, like neighborhood and size, all the way down to smaller details like bathroom layout and a kitchen that comes with trust-worthy appliances.
Then you need to choose your Winning team. This will include a real estate professional and a mortgage professional. It will give you peace of mind to have experts on your team to answer your many questions along the way.
Original article: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/08/first-time-homebuyer-guide.asp
