Buying your first house? How exciting!
Some decisions are more important than others, and right on the top-shelf of life-changing decisions, is buying your first house.
As a first time home buyer, you might be overcome with a myriad of emotions, as well as countless information flying over your head as you surf the web.
If you aren’t careful, you could easily get lost in the decision-making process and this could be really dangerous considering that investing in real estate is a leveraged investment.
This article gives you five essential pieces of advice to steer you in the right direction, and guide your purchase as a first time home buyer:
1. Visit Over Twenty Properties
When it comes to making a serious purchase, you want to be sure you’re not getting ripped off.
Also, if this is your first time buying a house, you probably don’t know much about houses.
A good way to up your game is by sampling as many houses as possible.
Thus, it makes for very good advice for you to visit at least 20 properties before you make your first purchase.
If before you buy a simple shirt you try on about 5 shirts first, why not apply the same logic to the much more delicate process of buying a house?
2. Don’t Be in a Hurry to Choose a Real Estate Agent
One major quality to be developed in the home-buying process is patience.
This comes into play especially when it comes to choosing the best local real estate agent.
The best way to go about this? At least, interview three real estate agents before choosing the one who is best suited for your home needs.
Are they familiar with the locality? Do you have a good-enough interpersonal relationship that’ll make for a smooth process?
Do not make the mistake of going along with the first person you meet or someone who was introduced to you- simply on the basis of that referral. Make your interviews detailed, and ensure it addresses your concerns.
Then, you can choose the best agent who’s willing to go on this intricate ride with you.
3. Shop Around for Mortgage Rates
Getting a mortgage is an essential part of homeownership, and this means you should wisely choose what form of mortgage you’d want to engage in, as well as the best lender for you.
For Canadian families, mortgage debt has historically represented a major chunk of household debt.
Between 1996 and 2016, mortgage debt was responsible for up to two-thirds of the increase in debt for families, with this value increasing to almost 100% of the increase in total debt between 2012 and 2016.
To reduce your mortgage debt therefore, it is best to talk to at least three lenders and check up reputable websites with the lowest mortgage rates.
4. Location is King
First time home buyers are sometimes convinced to ignore the location of a building and focus on a non-critical factor such as recent renovation.
This is fundamentally wrong, because while you can handle any renovations on your own, the location of a house is the most fixed factor ever- it cannot be changed.
This is why we say location is king!
5. Consider How Long You Plan to Live in the Property
When home searching, put into consideration how long you plan to live in a property.
For example, if you’d be living in a house for at least 5 years, consider the fact that you might be needing more space in the future- even if you don’t require as much space now.
Conclusion
As a first time home buyer, it will take a tremendous amount of prior knowledge and self-discipline not to get swayed by real estate noise, and end up making an impulsive choice that’ll hurt your finances and keep you on an unwise mortgage payment roll.
Choosing the right real estate agent, visiting enough properties, choosing a good location, shopping around for low mortgage rates and considering your future space needs are vital in making the final decision of which house to buy, and which house to pass upon.
Follow these rules, and you stand a higher chance of being content in your final choice of a house!
