A Simple Four-Step Guide to Buying a House in 2017
If buying a house is on your New Year’s resolution list for 2017, it’s important to plan ahead. After all, you don’t want to let unforeseen road bumps delay your goal of homeownership another year! Check out this helpful list of home buying tips to make your 2017 home buying process a little smoother.
- Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage. It doesn’t do much good to begin the home search only to find that your favorite house is out of your price range. Getting pre-approved by a reputable lender not only helps you better understand what you can afford, but it also shows sellers that you’re serious and able to seal the deal come closing day. Aside from evaluating your financial situation, this should be one of the first things you do in your home buying process.
- Assemble Your Dream Team. Before you begin the home buying process, you should think about your plan of attack. That includes searching for the best realtor to aid in your search and get you the best deal possible. It also means researching the best mortgage lenders (ahem) so you can get the best service possible.
- Chip Away at Debt. Two critical factors in obtaining a home loan are your credit score and debt-to-income ratio. These things help lenders gauge your reliability and financial trustworthiness, but can hurt your chances of getting approved for a mortgage if you carry large amounts of debt. If you think this could come between you and your goal of buying a house in 2017, then you should begin the process of strategically paying off debt as soon as possible. For help on how to improve your credit score, consult our previous blog post.
- Start Saving More. Buying a home requires far more capital than just the price of the property. You’ll want to factor in any potential home improvement costs, as well as other hidden costs that may arise throughout the home buying process. It’s wise to start saving a larger portion of your paycheck now so you can put it toward the home of your dreams when the right one comes along. Although, you may be surprised to find that you already have the funds available to buy a house. Read this post to discover 15 places your down payment might be hiding.
If you’re looking to buy a home in 2017, we’d love to help put you on the path to success. Send us a message to take the first step in your journey to homeownership.
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