Sleep on These, Before Buying a House to Sleep in for Life

Homes Expo
Things to Consider Before Buying a House

Gone are the days when people rushed to renting houses, people now take a sense of pride in owning homes. It is a symbol of an individual’s achievements. Not only does it save you from having a constant reminder every month to pay the rent from your land lord but it gives you the freedom to come up with your own rules. In the current market, house buying has become a major trend as many people are relocating from different areas of the world in search of greener pastures. This has opened the eyes of many business oriented real estate investors, some having ill intentions while others try to satisfy the target market with their wonderful house ideas. The dream of owning a house can quickly turn into a financial nightmare if you are not careful. Due to this, there are a couple of things one should consider before buying a house.

Budgeting for a home loan.
“Owning a home seems like a wiser alternative to renting” is what many people think but truth be told, it may not necessarily be so, at least for a short term period. You might need to take a loan to buy the house, pay monthly mortgage payments like most people do. It is important to take a hard look at your income including wages, investments and expenses to assist you to know the proper figures that you may comfortably afford to pay every month for the required years. Keeping in mind that the landlord’s responsibilities will all be passed to you this means you may incur more expenses such as repair, maintenance fee and all. Having this budget enables you to know if you are financially ready to buy the house.

Talk to a mortgage person to get pre-approved for a loan.
For new home owners the pre-approval process is a more thorough qualification. The purpose of a pre-qualification is to simply tell a realtor that you are serious about purchasing a new house. Fortunately, it is not a very detailed process. The pre-approval tells all parties involved that you are financially ready to buy the house. This will give you, the buyer, more purchasing power as the seller will be confident that you are financially fit to make such a purchase. This process means that the bank or mortgage lender will be granted access to all your finances (your assets as well as your liabilities and debts if any). This process will also inform you as to what financing options are available to you in today’s market.

Consult a professional agent
As the saying goes, cheap is expensive, one may opt to get a cheaper unqualified agent just to cut cost but at the end of the day they end up regretting why they had to throw away their money in some house that may lose its. Just because someone you might know has a real estate license doesn’t mean he/she is the right agent for you. Vetting agents and looking for someone who does real estate full time and knows the local inventory is definitely the right path.

Get to know the sellers situation
If you have found a house you want to buy, do a back ground check about the seller, and get to know why he / she is selling the house. The world today is full of surprises; you might find yourself buying a house that’s about to go down due to its poor construction or worse a non- existing house. Do your research fully and ensure that the meetings with the seller are done on legal grounds and any agreements included on paper.

Think carefully about the location of the house.
Always keep in mind once you buy a house you can never move it to another location in future since it’s a fixed asset. In view of this, you have to think about your lifestyle currently and how it will be in the future. This is a factor that must be taken into consideration. Do you have any small children at the moment? Think about when they will be ready to start school. Are there any schools near where the house is located?

If you are new to the area you might have to consider renting the house for a few months just to familiarize yourself with the new location and all that it has to offer. You wouldn’t want to end up with buyer’s remorse after having purchased a home that was not quite right for you.

Consider re-selling value
You may buy a house with the hopes of staying there for a long period but let’s face it, we are human and change is one thing we should embrace. The house you want to own might be your dream house but due to some unavoidable situations e.g. having to relocate to another country or maybe having some financial constraints, one may consider selling the house. It important to consider such factors before buying a house, get to know what other home owners are interested in, ensure that the surroundings are serene to attract other potential home owners.

Schedule a home inspection
If you think you have gotten the house you would like to purchase, you should include a home inspection to enable you to know what repairs should be done and how much it will cost you. It also helps you to negotiate with the seller about the improvement payments. Do not rely on just what the seller tells you about the house since he may be less candid, therefore some professional help may be needed in this case.