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I'm planning on buying my first house and I have no Idea where to start, of couse I,m looking houses on the mlsli but haven't get farther than that.
what are the steps, can anyone tell me?
I'm planning on buying my first house and I have no Idea where to start, of couse I,m looking houses on the mlsli but haven't get farther than that.
what are the steps, can anyone tell me?
Ok. ( I am not a broker-this is prior experience)
1. get a pre-approval from a lender. could be anyone from coldwell-banker to lets say USAA or anyone in between. See what their rates are. Speak to them over the phone or meet with them. They will ask you questions such as your income obviously, your debt, and check your credit.They will see what loan may be best for you. 15 yr, 30 yr, FHA,VHA,Conventional etc.Downpayment and such. FHA IS CURRENTLY 3.5%. They will either say yes or no and tell you high high you can go. A good broker may ask how much your willing to pay for a house then approve you on a certain limit.
Lets say your limit is and was approved for 400,000 but you find a 350,000 home you like and want to bid 345,000. A good broker may also tell you that he will re-work your pre-approval to something between 345,000 to 355,000 to reflect to the seller that that is all you have to work with before you bid.
Anyway that is step one
2. Go out there and start looking for homes. Now that you are armed with a pre-approval your a powerful buyer. Take your time, don't get too emotional, and have fun. If you have time play with some short sales. The market is still in a tailspin so be wary of sellers still looking for bubble bucks.
3. Once you find a home and make a bid contact your broker and give him the details. Then you start the loan registration process. You will get the actual packet. Gather your w-2's, paystubs, etc. The packet will have a step by step process and checklists. Request a sit down with your broker and sign all the paperwork.
All in all step 1 will get you rolling.
Let us know how it goes!
Good luck to you. If you have anymore questions feel free.
Besides all of the info from the other posters, I'd recommend pinpointing towns/areas and getting in your car and driving around specific neighborhoods in those towns. This way you'll know what appeals to you and what doesn't. You can do this on your own before you bring in a realtor. This alone will probably take you a few weeks to accomplish.
And you never know, you may stumble upon a house you really like, or an empty house that's a fixer, etc. Sometimes realtors go looking for listings just this way - they see a neglected piece of property, track down the owner (tax bills are public domain and ought to be on line, if not go to the town hall), etc.
All very good advice. Definately your first step is to meet with a mortgage professional. There is no use looking at houses until you know what you can afford (and are comfortable with payments on).
Next, determine what neighborhood or neighborhoods you want to concentrate on. Drive around and check them out at different times of the day and night. If schools are important to you investigate that as well.
You might want to attend a few open houses just to get a feeling for what's out there.
Finally, after this, find yourself a good Buyer's Broker to assist you with tracking down exactly what you are looking for and to help you negotiate the best price.
exactly. And you will need an attorney to write up the contract.
Yes the OP/buyer will need an attorney but their attorney does not write up the contract; the seller's attorney does that. The buyer's attorney receives the contract from the seller's attorney, reviews it, and then requests whatever changes he/she would like to see made to it. Of course the seller/seller's attorney is not obligated to make any changes; that's when all the legal haggling comes into play.
i looked around first at open houses and then with an agent before getting preapproved. I am happy I did this as I really was not finding anything that was worth the asking price. I wanted to avoid the preapproval until I found something I really liked and was ready to place a bid on first, as from what I understand frequent checks into your credit actually lowers your credit scores. (I can be wrong so double check this first)
alilisi, whether or not you currently have children, the school district is the most important criteria affecting home values, and school districts do not necessarily conform to community (city, village or hamlet) borders (i.e., there are many villages and hamlets that are split into two or more school districts).
In case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:
What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".
Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".
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Understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland"
