Tips for first time home buyers.
Before you decide on buying your first home, you need to be sure that you are ready to make the investment. The following steps will help first time homebuyers to make correct economic decisions as they search for their new home.
Compare the available offers.
Check the price of the house or home you want to buy and compare the home sale prices in the location you want to invest in. You should be working with a gay buyer broker that can provide you comps, and do a complete market analysis to determine the fair market value.
Fix a limit on cost.
As a first time buyer, you should not buy for more than you can afford. Use the available bank rate calculator (on bankrate.com) to see how much your annual payments would be and if you can reach them. Choose a mortgage that will not be a strain on your income. You can also determine how much to spend from your income. It is not advisable to spend more than 28 % of your income on housing costs.
Calculate your costs per month.
It is important to calculate and analyze monthly housing costs plus taxes and insurance. Sometimes the tax and insurance escrow can be as high as the mortgage itself, depending upon the location. For example, average annual insurance premiums can be as low as $477 or as high as $1372 in Texas, according to insurance information institute. To have a clear number of the payment expected you could choose one of the properties and confirm all the payments with your insurance company. (plus don’t forget maintenance and upkeep, water/sewer and utilities)
Estimate your closing costs
The initial costs involved in setting up the home including lender charges, legal fees, taxes and prepaid insurance. Your realtor should provide you an average cost at closing, so know how much they need to have.
The first time homebuyers should also spend with precaution. Buying a home comes with other overhead costs such as roof repairs, floor repairs, repainting walls among others. Such expenses are always expected eventually. The new homebuyer should keep a cushion amount of money in their account to cater for these costs.
Consult Professionals
New homebuyers should be working with a full time profession gay realtor. It costs nothing to be represented in your home purchase (the seller pays your brokers commission) and you ll have a full-time professional advocate representing you ~ someone that does it many times each month!
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Author Jeff Hammerberg is the Founding CEO of GayRealEstate.com. Free Instant Access to the Nation’s Top Gay, Lesbian and Gay Friendly Realtors Coast to Coast. FREE Buyers Representation ~ Free Relocation Kit to any City, USA ~ Free Sellers Market Analysis for home sellers.
