First Time Home Buyers
Table of Contents
Doing something for the first time can seem like a daunting task, especially as a first time home buyer since you may be purchasing one of the biggest assets you will own. As first time home buyers, you may be familiar with how the buying process works, but not enough to feel confident on the subject. Escrow, counter offers, contingencies, appraisals … what are all of these things and why are they important?
Whether or not you are familiar with these terms, The Prestige Team believes that your first home buying experience should be a fun and exciting experience! We take great care in ensuring our clients are well prepared for each step of the home buying process. From getting pre-approved, developing a search criteria for your future home, and ultimately guiding you through the intricacies of the purchase contract, we make it a priority to ensure our clients are well informed and have a pleasant experience throughout the process!
With over 20 years of experience, we know that first time home buyers are often in the most competitive market segment. For that reason, it is crucial to have a fundamental understanding of how you can compete in today’s market. The Prestige Team provides all of that and more! It all starts with you and your goals. As Mark Twain once said: “The secret to getting ahead is getting started”
Are you ready to get started?
The secret to getting ahead is getting started.
The secret to getting ahead is getting started.
How to Purchase your First Home!
Easy as 1, 2, 3!
Unless you are fortunate enough to be a cash buyer, buying a home comes down to your ability to show income and your creditworthiness. You do not need a huge down payment in order to purchase a home! However, you do need to show the necessary income in order to qualify for a mortgage if you are financing your purchase.
The examples below can give you an idea of the down-payment and monthly payment differences for 3% and 20% down-payment buyers.
In both examples above, you can see the breakdown of the monthly payment in the circle up top and the estimated closing costs in the lower circle.
Although the 3% down buyer has a higher monthly payment by $822, they managed only needed less than $29,000 for the purchase. By comparison, buying the same property with 20% down would leave you with a payment under $3,000, but would also require over $110,000 to close on the purchase.
One of the biggest challenges when purchasing a home will be finding the right balance between how much you can afford monthly vs how much you are putting down. The more down payment you have, the less your monthly payment will be. This is one of several reasons why we always start our buyers with a lender.
Establish the Budget
One of the first things we have our clients do when starting the home search is get pre-approved by a lender.
Although many buyers shy away from doing this up-front, getting pre-approved early in your home search can be vital to your success. We do this to establish a baseline for your purchasing power and look for any areas that can be easily improved. This also ensures we are looking within your spending budget! We work closely with a number of lenders that can perform and compete in today’s market.
Get your pre-approval going today by sending us a message using the form below!
Finding Your Home - Developing a Search Criteria
Once we know the budget we can work with, we can start narrowing down what kind of homes fit your wants and needs. We help explore what your needs are for a home and often suggest alternatives that may also suit your needs, but at a lower price.
Additionally, we provide you with the right tools to help us find your new home the second it hits the market!
We tour homes with our clients not only to accompany them but to give them our professional assessment of the property, both good and potentially bad.
Once a suitable property has been located and you are ready, it’s time to submit an offer!
Submitting Offers - Escrow
The Prestige Team takes great care to ensure our clients fully understand all of the paperwork we encounter throughout the transaction. One of the first major documents we review is the very first offer we write together, ensuring we highlight the important sections of the contract so you know exactly what you are signing and agreeing to.
We also sit down and read over contracts, disclosures, reports, and anything else we determine is of importance so that our clients are informed and confident about their potential purchases.
Learn the buying process, start to finish!
Have a quick question? Send it over!
Whether you have a design conundrum or are considering a move in the near future, we love chatting Real Estate!
Send us a message and we’ll get back to you!
