Buying a home takes time, so it’s important to be prepared. Don’t worry, your lender and your agent will help you along the way.

If you finance a home, it can take 2 months or more. There are many stages or steps involved. Find a lender, then go shopping, make the offer, schedule inspections, get insurance, work with a title company, and the final step is closing the deal. If you are looking to buy a home in the next 6 months to a year and are going to be financing, the time to start preparing is now. Again, don’t worry that your lender and your agent will help you.

Find a lender

The first step in starting the home buying process is to contact a lender to determine how much money you will have to spend or how much you can afford. There is no point in buying a home if you can’t afford it. It would be unwise to look for homes over $ 300,000 if your lender only lends you $ 175,000. It would be very disappointing to find your dream home and then find out that you can’t get it. So start by figuring out what you can afford, and then you can go shopping for homes in that price range.

Not all lenders are the same. Find one that you find helpful and informative. Your lender must give you information about what you are eligible for, and if you are not eligible, they must be able to tell you what to do to be eligible.

If you need help finding a good lender, you can also ask your real estate agent if they have any preferred lenders that they can recommend.

How much down payment do you need?

Not all mortgages require a large amount of upfront money. Be sure to ask your lender about your options. If this is your first time to buy, be sure to let them know.

Some lenders offer special first-time homebuyer loans and some do not. The state of Florida offers many resources for down payment assistance. You will want to see what is available to you in your state.

If you are eligible for a VA loan, you will not need a down payment. That’s correct. No start-up money.

Poor credit score

You can qualify for a mortgage with a credit score as low as 580, so don’t let your credit score put you off. If your credit score is below the necessary criteria for the right mortgage for you, then your lender can sometimes look at the report and determine if there are things on the report that they may have removed to increase your score or give you advice on what to do. you can do to improve it. This can take time, so if you want to buy a home, you should give yourself time to follow these steps. It will take patience and perseverance, but a home is worth it.

Get a real estate agent

There are two types of real estate agents. TO listing agent– one that specializes in listing homes for sale and A buyers agent someone who helps buyers in the home buying process. It is important to note that both roster agents Y buying agents receive payment from the seller.

Your agent can or should be able to help you throughout the process. They can help you find a lender, buy the home, write and submit the contract purchase offer, schedule and provide you with the necessary information on what inspections are needed or you might want, working with the title company to obtain a free title, and no links, working with the lender so the lender has the information they need, etc. They do a lot of work for you and it is important that you be loyal to them. Work with an agent. Whenever you have a question, call your agent.

Choose an agent

A good agent will be willing to answer your questions and help you through the process when necessary. You should be able to reach them at any time. If your agent doesn’t answer your calls or emails consistently and doesn’t follow up in a reasonable amount of time (within an hour or two), you should probably choose another agent. Your agent should always be willing and able to help. If your agent doesn’t know the answer to your question, they should be able to find out for you or point you in the right direction.

Find a house

It is difficult for an agent to find what they are looking for if they do not know it. An agent can perform a search by price. They can also search by location. So if you are looking for a house in Sarasota that is less than 300,000, the agent can search and send you a list of houses that are less than 300,000. There are more details the agent may need to know. Is a garage important to you? How about a swimming pool? How about the school district? How many rooms do you need? Do you want a tub in the master bathroom or just a shower is fine? Anything that is important to you, you should tell them. It will make finding the right house in the right place much easier. I’ve had buyers spend weeks and months searching because they weren’t sure what they wanted and this kept changing. The location changed, the price changed, the size changed. Sometimes certain areas just don’t have much available at the price and size you need. Finding the right home can be easy and sometimes difficult depending on need and availability.

Are you afraid of home maintenance?

There are many old houses out there. If you like older homes, you may want to look for one that the seller has done some maintenance on over the years. Has the roof, air conditioning or heating system been updated, plumbing replaced, etc.? I have seen some recently renovated houses have big problems. Buying a home with a warranty is always a good option when buying an older home.

If you are afraid of having to do some maintenance or cannot find a house that you like, you can consider a new construction. Your agent can help with this too. They should have some local builders and know the lots that are available that can lead you to model homes. Some builders have pre-designed and priced floor plans so you can find a home in their price range. They may even have started the process of building a house so you don’t have to wait that long. Buying new means everything is under warranty.