An owner and agent at a RE/MAX office provides advice for First Time Home Buyers.

The search for the perfect house loan can be made considerably easier if you follow a few basic guidelines.

Know How Much you Can Afford in your First Home

There is no point in driving around and visiting open houses if you are not certain what you can realistically afford in a new home.

The time would be better spent reviewing your finances, speaking with your accountant or financial advisor and putting some facts down on paper.

With this knowledge you can seek out home loan lenders and request a pre-approved mortgage. Having this confirmation will raise your confidence level and make your actual home search more interesting and satisfying.

Estimate How Long Will you Stay in the Home

The average length of a time for home owners to stay in their home is 7 to 10 years. Attempt to project into the future and determine if your status is likely to change and require you to move.

There could be various reasons for this such as having children, additional space needs, career changes, increased financial stability, and many others.

An additional reason for estimating the duration of your stay is related to the house being an investment. Remember that the home loan and the home value are closely related and that in order to recoup the costs of that investment you will need to remain for some amount of time.

To simply break even could take 3 to 5 years, assuming that the house appreciates 5 percent annually.

Fixed Rate Versus Adjustable Rate

The time that you choose to remain in your new home, or a future home can be helpful in suggesting a fixed rate home loan or one with an adjustable rate be selected.

Staying in a home for only a few years may indicate that a variable rate may be preferred, if economic conditions are favorable.

But, if you seek to remain longer and perhaps raise a family, then the predictability of a fixed rate mortgage may be more appealing.

Be Honest with Yourself

Making that first home purchase is an exciting time in life and causes many questions to arise that must be answered. What are your future plans, where do you want to live, how much can you afford as a first time home buyer, how long will I stay, and many others.

They may seem almost impossible to answer, but by addressing them you will understand more about yourself and what it is you truly seek.

Does buying a less expensive home help lower your mortgage interest rate?

Before refinancing, count the costs. Remember, refinancing will entail paying closing costs.

This is especially true if you are investing in real estate with the hopes that you’ll be able to make a profit off it in the near future. Before buying first time real estate, here are some things that you need to know:

There are buyer’s markets and seller’s markets and you should know when you’re in the midst of which. Pay attention to the sale prices of homes in the areas that you are looking to buy.

Watch if they go up or down over time. Following the trends will help you to know when it’s a good time to buy and when you need to wait.

There’s a slight difference between real estate agents and realtors. A realtor is a member of the National Realtor Association which involves certain training.

If a real estate agent gains this status, he or she might be a good choice. But a realtor may be someone who is not a real estate agent but rather is someone else in the industry (such as a home appraiser).

Ask questions about the professionals that you’ll be working with to make sure that you’re working the real estate agent or realtor that is right for your needs.

There’s a language to be learned when buying real estate for the first time. You need to know about “closings” and about “amortization” on home loans and about all kinds of other industry terms. Get a real estate dictionary or a basic book on buying real estate so that you can keep up with the conversations going on around you.

You’ll probably need to get a loan for buying first time real estate. Work with your lender to get the best rate possible.

You should also know that there are special tax deals for home owners, especially in the year of purchase. Make sure to work with a tax attorney to get yourself the best financial deal.

It’s a bad idea to be impulsive but if you know what you want then you should go after it. You probably aren’t going to want the first home that you look at.

You might not even decide to invest in the first hundred homes that you look at. But if you do walk into your ideal home early on, it’s okay to make a move on it.

Just make sure that you look realistically at the value of the home so that you don’t get a bad deal.

Most of buying a first time home is actually about using some common sense. Ask yourself if you’d let your daughter, grandmother or best friend buy the home that you want to buy. If so, you’re probably getting yourself a good deal.

If not, you’ll want to do some more legwork and ask a lot of questions. It’s okay to be confused if this is your first time buying real estate, especially since this is an investment that could benefit you greatly if you play your cards right.

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