I hope you had a wonderful Halloween weekend, I’m here today to talk about the first three things you need to do before before you buy a house. But first, I want to share some photos from our Halloween weekend.
Halloween in the new ‘hood
We moved into the new house just about a month ago. At that time, our neighbors had already started decorating for Halloween. And they told us it was a pretty big deal for this neighborhood. I wasn’t sure how many trick-or-treaters to expect, especially since it’s such a weird year. Aaron and I bought two of the big bags of candy from Costco, and I decided to do some individual treat bags at the last minute, so I grabbed another huge bag on Saturday afternoon.
I got to work putting my treat bags together, and set up a little station outside of our house so the kids could grab and go. We waved and met some neighbors from a safe distance. I made about 100 individual bags, and the kiddos cleaned me out. We had SO MANY trick-or-treaters come through the neighborhood, so now I know that I probably need to buy double the candy for next year.
3 Tips for First-Time Home Buyers
Okay, now I’m back to the original focus of my post: home-buying tips. I’ve had a lot of friends ask how you even get started (You can read about the new house here). What should you do first? I had a lot of those questions myself, and Aaron and I had what I refer to as the “dream team” to help us get those answers. That’s me with our lender and realtor! I call them the dream team because they are friends of ours. Our realtor owns his own company alongside his wife, and they were our previous neighbors in our old neighborhood. It just so happens that Aaron used to work with our lender, and he now owns his own lending company. So, I knew right off the bat that they had our best interests at heart.
Step 1: Make a list
Make a list of wants, needs and things that you would consider a deal breaker. Aaron and I wrote this list down on paper and handed it over to our realtor. Some examples of things that we had to have included the following:
Needs
- Pool
- Fenced yard
- Single story (my golden retriever is 12 years old, and he is a typical velcro-golden who loves to be with his people. Even if that means we are upstairs. Our three-story townhome was taking its toll on his legs, so we knew we needed a single story home)
- Garage
- At least three bedrooms and at least 2.5 bathrooms
- Close to trails to run and ride bikes
Deal breakers
We didn’t have a ton of deal breakers, but Aaron and I knew we couldn’t take on a home that needed extensive renovations. We agreed that we were fine with doing some paint and flooring. But, we knew we couldn’t take on a house that needed some extensive work to get it to a livable spot. With both of us working out of the home – and with limited time to oversee construction – we needed a home that was ready to be lived in.
Wants
Wants are what I would consider things that would be nice to have, but not things you necessarily need to have in a house. Some of those things on our list included:
- A fireplace
- A gated driveway
- Nice landscaping
We didn’t have to have a fireplace, but I thought it would be nice to have one. We do live in Houston, so having extra security in a gated driveway would be nice. If the house didn’t come with it, we knew we could always add that on in the future. Aaron and his dad have an eye for landscaping, so if it needed some extensive work, I knew that we had some people in the family who could help advise.
Luckily, we handed this list over to our realtor, and he checked off all of the boxes on our list. He found everything on our “wants” and needs,” and avoided homes that had any of the deal breakers.
Step 2: Find a lender
This is a hugely important step in the process. You need to locate a lender who you are comfortable with. They will be working with you throughout the entire process of buying a home – and they will be asking you personal questions about your income, debt and anything else that could help (or prevent) you from buying a home. Interview several. Go with lenders that come with good personal reviews from friends or family members. Do you research. This step is important!
Luckily, we went with our friend. We knew he would be our best advocate, and we tried not be a thorn in his side throughout the process. There were questions that popped up several times, and I was able to get him on the phone to explain to me what some of those numbers meant (in English – and not in lending terms). He reassured me along the way, and we were able to close within 30 days of the looking at the home.
Step 3: Get your pre-approval
This is huge. You can’t start looking for a house if you don’t know how much you can spend on a house. Once you locate a lender, they will ask you several things including:
- How much do you want to spend on your monthly mortgage payment?
- How much will you use for your down payment?
Things they will need from you to get that pre-approval include:
- Monthly income
- Any outstanding debt you have
- The amount you currently have in your checking account
Things your lender will look for in the pre-approval process:
- Proof of income
- Proof of assets
- Employment verification
- Good credit
- Personal documentation (ID/social security)
I hope you find these tips helpful! I’ll be back tomorrow!!!!
