Top Tips To Make Home Buying a Breeze

 

Tip #1 – Get Pre-Approved NOW

 

     Buying a home a month from now?  Buying a home a year from now?  Not sure if, when, or where you’ll buy a home?  Either way, get pre-approved now!  A pre-approval is the most important planning action you can take even if you’re just considering an eventual home purchase.  Why?  With a pre-approval, you’ll have a chance (and time) to review your credit and improve your credit scores, if necessary, which could save you thousands of dollars when the time comes to actually buy your home.  Your pre-approval will allow your lender to determine how much you qualify for, and put together numbers to show you what purchase prices and property types will result in which amount of monthly payment.  This makes finding the perfect home much easier, because you know what you’re looking for.

     When you go out to look at homes, you’ll need a pre-approval for your agent and for sellers to be sure you can purchase their home – they’ll often ask for this before they even open the door to you.  More importantly, though, having a pre-approval will prepare you and educate you for your home purchase, and guarantee that when you find your perfect home, your loan process will be an easy one.

*Preapproval starts with a simple loan application.  If you’d like to see what you can qualify for and have a full preapproval analysis completed, fill out our user friendly online loan application here — this is a complete application portal – please do not upload documentation into this application prior to speaking with us first*

 

 

Tip #2 – Find a great Realtor

     A great real estate professional can make your home buying process immensely easier, and safer.  A great real estate agent will have knowledge and resources to answer any questions you have about the process of finding a home, moving forward once your offer is accepted, along with area-specific info about things like schools, recreational opportunities, local things to do, and other local info that’s important in choosing the right place to call home.

     It’s very important to choose your professionals based on their experience and knowledge rather than who you know.  Many, many people have a real estate license (and a mortgage license, for that matter) but there is a huge difference in the quality of real estate professionals, and choosing the one you feel comfortable and confident with is one of the biggest decisions you can make when preparing to buy a home.  Getting referrals from others who have been happy with their agent is a great place to start, and your lender may have suggestions to local professionals, too.

*Have a question about finding a local professional to help you?  The JM Loans team has you covered with a nationwide network of real estate, mortgage, and title experts.  Ask an expert for some guidance here!*

Tip #3 – Ask Questions

     Whether you’re buying your first home, or your 10th, you’ll have questions along the way, and it’s important to remember there is no such thing as a stupid question.  Whether you’re confused about what you think may be basic terms, or you have in-depth questions about the mortgage products available to you, our goal as your hired professionals is to help you navigate the process with ease and understanding.  If you have hours of questions, we have hours of answers, and we’re happy to provide them.

     The more you know, the easier the loan process can be, and the more you know in advance, the more confident (and less stressed) you’ll be throughout the process of buying your home, from start to finish.

Tip #4 – Be Patient, Be Smart

     Buying a home is usually a combination of excitement and anxiety, and our job is to make it more exciting and less stressful.  With such a large purchase, you want to make sure you’re making a smart decision.  We always want our clients to avoid rushing into home ownership just for the sake of owning.  Buying a home is a big responsibility – not only financially, but also when it comes to planning for the future.  Do you have the resources and planning to ensure proper upkeep of your home?  Can you fix things (or do you want to) when they break, or afford to pay someone to do it for you?  Are you buying in a price range that allows you to make your mortgage payment and enjoy life, too?  One of the worst things you can do is spend too much money to buy a home, and then not be able to enjoy it.  The conservative home buyer is almost always the happy home buyer.

     Patience is important, too.  Remember tip #1 – if you’ve been preapproved early in the process, the financial side of things should already be in order before you even look at homes.  Knowing you can finance your home doesn’t mean you have to find it immediately, though.  Don’t be too picky, because there’s no such thing as a perfect house, but don’t settle because of a lack of inventory, or because the first 2, 5, or 10 houses you see didn’t make you excited.  If you’re working with good professionals, keeping your eyes open, and remaining diligent, you’ll find the right home, and finding the right home is more important than just finding a home.

Tip #5 – Think short AND long term

     When buying a home, many people consider money out of pocket, monthly payment, and not much else.  In reality though, there are many other things to consider.  Is there a possibility your family could grow in the next few years?  Can the home you’re buying accommodate a larger family?  If we see a drop in home values, can you financially weather the storm and stay in place until values trend higher again?  Are you interested in potentially renting out a property in the future instead of selling?  Will your income definitely grow in the next few years, or will you definitely be relocating?

     All of these questions and more will matter when it comes to buying a great home and obtaining the right mortgage product.  No one knows what the future will hold for sure, but considering your long term goals and finances can help you make the right choices when finding a home and choosing the right loan program.  Of course, you want to look short term, too.  Is the home you’re buying the right size for you to take care of?  Is it in a location you enjoy and somewhere you can tolerate your commute to work and places you like to frequent?  There are many things to consider, and educating yourself along with having open lines of communication with your lender and real estate professional should help you be confident in your decisions, and consider all of your options.

     Buying a home doesn’t have to be a puzzle.  It certainly doesn’t have to be difficult.  And we never want it to be more stressful than exciting.  The JM Loans team uses the tag #MortgageMadeEasy, and in using these 5 tips, you’ll find the home buying process a breeze.  Tip #1 will set the stage for a stress free process, and following the remaining 4 tips will help guide you through the home finding and buying process without the aggravation that you hear about so often.

If you have any questions about the buying process, mortgage options, questions about getting started, reach out and ask an expert to get a quick response.