It’s great that you’re now looking for your first property and also your first home. It doesn’t matter if you’re single or in a relationship, buying your first home can be a very exciting experience. However, there is so much information to take in and sometimes it can be a little difficult to understand. You have a picture in your head about what kind of property that you would like to buy, but what you want and what you can get are two completely different things. It can be quite daunting when you see properties selling for $300,000-$500,000 and many of the cheaper properties are being sold so quickly that you don’t even have an opportunity to put in a bid. It takes many people a few years or more to find the property of their dreams and the one in which is they will start to build a family.
As a first-time buyer, you’re going to be talking to real estate agents quite a lot, and it’s important to make sure that you pick the right one. There are various websites that can help you with this and you can find out the commissions that each individual estate agent charges, you can find out the success rate in selling and finding particular properties, and you can read customer reviews about their services. If you are a first-time buyer then the following tips should help you to make better decisions in order to find the property of your dreams.
– Lay the groundwork – When you commit to a mortgage on a property, you are tying yourself up for between 30 to 35 years and you have to be able to come up with your monthly house payment no matter what. This is why you need to make sure that you are debt free before you even think about buying your first property. Your house payments may be less than what you are currently paying for your rent, but there are other added costs when you own a property. It will be your job to pay for any home maintenance that needs to be done and that money has to come from somewhere. This is why it is important that you save not only for your down payment, but also for the money that you will need after buying the property.
– Stick to your budget – If you are smart, you will get yourself preapproved by the lending institution which you hope to buy your house with. This means that you will know exactly how much money that you have to spend and how much that you can afford. This stops you getting caught up in the moment and bidding for a property that is well beyond your affordability. We all want something nicer, but for now get yourself onto the property ladder and as the years pass by, you can then think about moving to a larger property. Just to give you an idea, your monthly housing costs including incidentals should be about 25% of your total monthly salary. To learn more about buying your first home, have a look here.
There are many things that you need to be aware of when searching for your first property. Make sure you go into this with your eyes wide open.