Essential tips for first time home buyers

It has eventually come to that point where you feel you’ve grown out of your tiny, rented apartment and have built a career that provides a stable income. It looks like you’re ready to buy your first home!

Buying your first home can be a daunting task, so we’ve provided some tips for first-time home buyers to help you enjoy the buying process that could lead you to your dream home.

Do your homework. Before meeting with a real estate agent, we suggest doing some research on current real estate listings in your area. The Internet is overflowing with photos, prices and even virtual tours of homes you may be interested in. Check out this listing site for example

Make a checklist. How do you know if you’ve found the perfect property if you don’t know what you’re looking for? Write down a list of everything you want in a house, starting with your highest priorities first. Don’t forget to include price, size and location, which are all very important factors when buying a home.

Know how much you can afford. This is a huge mistake first-time buyers make. They don’t know how much they can afford and neglect it when looking at homes for the first time. People look at unrealistic homes out of budget. Always make sure you KNOW how much you can afford! A company like Realty Point Limited offers an affordability calculator to help determine the price of a home you can afford considering your income and additional bills you currently have. You can take our SACK YOUR LANDLORD test

See a house more than once. Searching for a home is like searching for a spouse. You wouldn’t marry someone only after a first date! Purchasing a house without seeing it first is a common mistake for homeowners, which often leads to buyers’ remorse. Make sure you tour the house a few times before committing. You may have missed something important that caught your eye the second time around.

Take pictures and notes. After looking at several houses in one day, all of the information you learned may start to blur together. When touring, bring a camera and a notebook to get the details of every house you looked at that day. Afterwards, you can go back and review the pros and cons of each house. You may even spot details in the photos that you didn’t notice during the showing.

Don’t forget to breathe. We know that searching for the perfect home can be a stressful process, but it doesn’t have to be! With a little planning and help from Realty Point Limited, you’ll be able to relax and get excited about being a homeowner.