First time home buyers?

Status: Open
Sep 19, 2016 Views1,066 Answer a Question

Husband an I are young but also building our future with our children. Looking into start buying a house, where do we start??

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Consumer
Categories:
Home Buying
About 7 years ago
Hello Kimberly. Buying a home is a big task, but can be fun as well as exciting! There are many moving parts, but the key is to have someone help you through the process. Interviewing one to three experienced Realtors may be a good starting point. Understand how they can assist you with the process. Ask family and friends for a personal referral. Possibly look up Realtors here on HAR as well as other web portals. Those agents that work in the area your interested in and assist in the price range could be a starting factor. I work all over Houston and with many first time home buyers. Give me a call and we can discuss. Have a great day. Mark McNitt, Bernstein Realty. 832-567-4357
About 7 years ago
Hi Kimberly
Buying a house is one of the most important decisions that you take in life, it is one of the biggest financing investment you will make and having an agent working with you is the best choice you can take.
Go with a real estate brand (like Re/Max) that will protect not just your investment but you as well. Work with and agent (like Paola Anderson) that has control of all aspects of the transaction from beginning to end, that works shoulder to shoulder with the lender, the title company, inspectors etc, that you can call from 8am to 8pm and know that we will be there for you, that you can trust they will help you make and intelligent decision on the biggest purchase of your life.
I will love to help you through the hassle of buying a house and make it smooth and easy transition for you.

King Regards
About 7 years ago
In short, you need to:
1) Get pre approved for a loan by a mortgage lender
2) You need to select an agent (interview a few)
3) Discuss with your agent and make sure he is acting as an advisor to you and not just 'showing you houses'
I would be glad to interview for your business.
francois@cozy-homes.com / 713 397 8857
About 7 years ago
Kimberly, the fact that you are even asking this on the HAR site tells me you are an advanced consumer! I am just going to tell you what I recommend my prospective clients do when they are in the same situation as you & your husband. Get familiar with how much your monthly expenses are AND what you and your husband's monthly incomes are. Then pull up each of your credit scores. You can get them free online from a couple of companies these days. Lastly, call your bank or a mortgage lender that has been recommended from someone you trust. Call the bank or lender and tell them you would like a "Pre-Approval" for a home loan. They will be very excited to talk to you. In 10-15 minutes you will likely have your pre-approval. Why is this important? It will tell you how much money (approximately) you can borrow for the purchase of your new home. Once you know that you can start narrowing down the areas in which you'd like to live based on your loan amount. ALSO this will allow your Realtor to actually make an offer for you on a home when the time is right. Thank you for sending a great question! Pls call if I can be of assistance.
David Tyrell
Realtor, Greenwood King Properties
(281)546-6708
dtyrell@greenwoodking.com
About 7 years ago
Hi Kimberly!!

Congrats on your decision to purchase a home. Buying your first home is such an exciting experience (and having the right people on your side is critical to ensuring the process is smooth and as stress free to you as possible! :) You need someone to explicitly detail the home buying process, from setting up the property search to negotiating the offer to managing the transaction to close. I have a couple of things that I send to my first time home buyer clients, detailing the process from start to finish so there are no surprises, referrals for mortgage lenders (as well as lender "dos" and "don'ts" from a lender), insurance agents, inspectors, etc. that I have personally worked with. Feel free to shoot me an email for more information as HAR won't let me write it all out or attach anything to this post.

It's always a good idea to start your search online by "favoriting" some properties that look appealing in areas you want to be in. Your realtor should take down everything you are wanting (or not wanting) in a property, map out the search and filter properties to meet your criteria. You can have your agent set the search up to send to you automatically when a property comes up that matches your criteria, or I have clients that I filter through for them if they are looking for something very specific that is "unfilterable" (unfortunately, there is no way to filter out "ugly"). Depending on when you want to purchase, you'll spend some time looking at properties online, noting what you like or don't about them, driving areas, and just really refining what you are looking for. You'll also want to go ahead and contact a mortgage lender to start your preapproval process to see if there is anything that needs to be addressed prior to contracting on a property and know what you can expect for cash to close.

Let me know if I can be of any help!

Darby / KW / darby@darbygrimmett.com / 936-827-9217
Disclaimer: Answers provided are just opinions and should not be accepted as advice.
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