My husband and I are finally ready to start the next adventure in our journey…buying our first home! I am really excited that we are finally ready to get a place of our own, but a little overwhelmed with all of the new information we need to know. I thought I would use today’s blog to talk about how to prepare to buy a home and ask all of you to share your tips and tricks for first time home buyers.
Photo Credit: WikiHow
So before we start actually looking for a house I figured there were a few things that we should do to prepare:
Clean Up Our Credit Report
The first thing we need to do is request copies of our credit reports. This is important so we can know our credit score. The higher the score, the lower our down payment and monthly payments will be. We can also use this time to clean up any errors on our credit report. Starting now we have to make sure not to make any major changes that will affect our credit report like opening or closing credit cards.
Determine How Much House We Can Afford
Most of the sources I have researched say that your monthly home payment shouldn’t exceed 28-31 percent of your monthly income. A great exercise for us now would be to try to start making monthly “house” payments to our savings account. That way we can make sure we can still be comfortable with the payment we decide on.
The other thing to remember is that with a big house utilities will be more expensive and you have the added responsibility of property taxes and home maintenance.
Have Enough Savings to Cover Down Payment and Closing Costs
For a down payment we need to have anywhere from 5-20 percent of the total cost of the house depending on the financing. You also can’t forget closing costs which could be anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000.
We also want to make sure to have some extra cash for furniture, decor and repairs.
Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
We already have a mortgage guy, so it’s important to get pre-approved before we start house hunting. There’s nothing worse than finding the house you love and not being ready to make an offer.
Find a Good Realtor
We have a fantastic realtor and can’t wait to give him the green light to help us start looking.
Over the next few months we will be going through all of these steps and then start house hunting! As we go through this process I would love to hear about any tips you have for buying a new home.
Lately, one of my guilty pleasures has been looking at new home and address change announcements. A few of them have really caught my eye, especially this one from Small Moments:
To celebrate the launch of our house hunting journey, Kimberly at Small Moments has generously offered a giveaway for my readers. She has so many adorable cards and invitations that I can’t wait to use for gatherings at our new place. The giveaway includes an 8×10 “Love is” letterpress print and 12 of her Sweet Like Candy cards. These little cards are so fun and different, I love the humor behind them.
Let me know what your favorites are in the comments section.
To enter you need to fill out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway will end on September 30th.
I love the little notecards, but my favorite is definitely all her prints…We need art and these would be perfect! Of course, I am partial to the custom print with your location in Michigan…That would be so cute in our home 🙂
And so excited for you to buy a house! My advice is to get something you love, but don’t over-extend yourself. Pretty much any house can be fixed with the right paint colors 😉
Lauren Weber recently posted…Little Mermaid Craft: Under The Sea Adventure #DisneyPrincessPlay
Thanks Lauren! That is great advice!
those cards are aborable!!
I’m also buying a house, Liz! Where are you looking? My house is in Royal Oak. Let’s catch up and compare notes. 🙂
PS – I like the cookies one best. 🙂
I like the “you had me at cheese filled one,” now I need to come up with a party where I can use it, lol
I think we will look in Troy, Royal Oak and surrounding areas. I would love to catch up!
Ohh, I vote Royal Oak, but I’m biased. I love looking at houses, so let me know if you ever want a second (or third) pair of eyes to go with you. Good luck, and keep me posted!
I am so excited for you!!! House-hunting can be fabulous if you have the right realtor and the right co-buyer (you’re good there, of course!) My tip: If you can’t decide between two houses at some point, go see both again, walk in with your eyes closed (with guidance of course), then open them when you’re as centrally-located in the house as possible. Your gut will instantly tell you which one is the home for you.
Oh, and I really like the “cookies” saying – if I could have a cookie and a napevery day, I would be a happy, happy girl.
That is a great idea, I will have to remember that when we start hunting. I have a hard time visualizing the end product sometimes but that’s why I have John.
Elizabeth,
You posted this at the perfect time! It is so relevant to me- I am thinking of starting a house search as well! I’ll be looking in the Novi area for a condo- but for you and John I also vote Royal Oak 🙂
Thanks for posting such enjoyable topics!!!
Thanks Mindy! Good luck on your hunt, John grew up in Novi and we love visiting. We can swap house hunting stories!
hello from Livonia!
My fave item is the “love is” letterpress.. just gorgeous! thanks 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Andrea!