While renting can be very convenient, there are a lot of financial benefits to buying property. For the amount of money you pay in rent a month (or a lot of times, less money per month) you can be on your way toward paying a mortgage off. Buying property is a great way to build wealth and ideally you can sell the property later on for less than you paid for it and make a decent profit. 

 

There are downsides, such as responsibility for maintenance, repairs, and general upkeep, but keeping your property in good shape allows you to optimize the resale value. 

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If you like being able to move regularly and not stay in one location for a long time, you are also able to do so in a home! Just because you have a 15 or 30 year mortgage does not mean you are committing to living in that location for that amount of time.

When purchasing real estate, there are two main concerns for you as the buyer: finances, and inventory. Though few people like to deal with finances, they are an important part of the whole process and are the foundation to everything else, so we typically start there.

If you don't already have a pre-approval from a lender, we can meet with one together to go over your financial picture and answer any questions you may have, as well as figure out exactly how much house you can afford. 

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Once we have a pre-approval from a lender, we can look at and make offers on different properties; the offer and negotiation process can be difficult to navigate, which is the great thing about having a professional helping you. Once we get an offer accepted, there are other parts of the process such as a home inspection, an appraisal, and anything else you negotiate or the lender requires. Once all parties get the info needed and their actions fulfilled, we can close!

The great thing is that you're not alone, and that there are options to help you out. If you are a teacher, firefighter, police officer, recent graduate, or if you have not owned a home in the past 36 months, you may qualify for down payment assistance which would help you get into a house you want without having to make a 20% down payment. 

If obtaining a gift from a family member or friend is an option, you can also use that as part of your down payment.

There are also loans targeted toward low-to-mid income households that don't require a large percentage down, or if you're a veteran you may qualify for a VA loan which doesn't require a down payment at all. When we speak to a lender, we can get a better idea of how much you may need to bring to closing, and you will for sure know before the closing date. 

Credit is important to the loan process, and if you don't already know what your credit score is, you should make it habit to check. Knowing what information is on your credit report will help you know what to expect when you apply for a mortgage. Although higher credit scores typically can get you lower interest rates and therefore you could afford a larger house, some lenders will write loans for those with lower credit scores. 

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If your credit score is low, don't worry! If you don't qualify for a mortgage loan today, we can take steps to improve your credit score and try to get it in the range that a lender would want.