Buying a home is an exciting experience, but it’s also easy to get carried away by your emotions and make costly mistakes. To help you get ready for the journey ahead, we prepared this step-by-step buying guide.
Deciding to Buy
1. Be clear about your reason for buying.
This will have an impact on your choice of home and neighborhood, as well your budget.
Some of the most compelling reasons to buy a new home include:
- You need a bigger space to accommodate your and your family’s growing needs
- You want to build equity instead of putting your money in rent
- You’re following a job
- You can now afford your own home or to upgrade to a better home
- You’re a retiree looking to downsize
2. Make sure you’re financially ready.
Crunch the numbers to see if you can afford not only your mortgage payments, but other homeownership costs as well, including closing costs, property taxes, insurance, and monthly maintenance expenses.
Preparing to Buy
- Get mortgage pre-approval.
Many sellers will only show their homes to buyers with pre-approval. Pre-approval will also give you a good idea of how much mortgage you’ll likely get, which you can use in setting your budget.
- Check your credit.
Get a copy of your credit report to find out how you may improve your credit score. A good credit score and credit history, and debt-to-income ratio of about 36% are important in getting favorable mortgage terms.
- Prepare cash for a down payment and closing costs.
To get the best possible mortgage terms, a down payment of around 20% is often needed, but you may still get a good loan with a lower amount. In addition, you also need to get ready for closing costs. The average closing cost in the country is around $7,200.
Finding a buyer’s agent
Whether you’re buying a home for the first time or have done it before, you need to work with a Realtor who will look after your best interests and give you the expert guidance you need at every step of the process.
Ask people you know for referrals and always vet potential Realtors. Work with someone with experience in the area you’re interested in. Check their past achievements and track record, as well as reviews and testimonials from past and present clients. As much as possible, talk to each candidate personally to get a feel of how it is to work with them.
Looking for homes fit for your lifestyle
1. Prepare a list of the things you’re looking for a home
Your list should have two parts – the things you need and the things you want.
The “things you need” include features that you simply can’t compromise on, including the location, the number of bedrooms, storage space, a spacious kitchen, and so on.
The “things you want” include the extras and amenities that you can probably live without but can make living in the home more enjoyable. These include such features as an outdoor kitchen, an entertainment room, a swimming pool, and others.
Provide your Realtor with your list so they can help you narrow your search. In looking at homes, tick off your basic requirements first before going through your “wants”. Look at how much those extra amenities can cost you, then determine if they fit your budget, and if you’re willing and able to pay for them.
2. Choose the right neighborhood
In addition to having good access to work, schools, and other places that are important to you, look at property values as well. Invest in an area with potential growth and where home values tend to rise.
Consider the demographics, as well. You’d want to live near people who share the same interests as you.
Other things to look into include safety, and any homeowners’ association fees and covenants and restrictions.
Escrow and appraisals
When you’ve found the right home, your Realtor will help you come up with a competitive offer price and draft an offer letter with the contingencies you need. Negotiation begins when the seller sends a counter offer.
After you and the seller agree on the price and terms of the sale, you both sign a purchase agreement and the process goes to escrow.
At the escrow stage, you should work on finalizing the financing for the home and removing all contingencies.
Your lender will perform a separate appraisal of the home to determine the loan amount they can agree to. If the appraisal comes up lower than the agreed selling price, your options are to negotiate anew with the seller, pay for the difference from your own pocket, or get out of the sale.
Closing the deal
If everything is in order, the process goes to closing. The lender will release the funds for the home purchase and the title is transferred to you. On closing day, you and the seller sign all the needed documents and pay the closing costs as agreed upon. Once this is done, the keys to the home will be turned over to you.
Moving in
Before moving in, make sure you’ve done all your sorting and packing, and have made the necessary arrangements with a moving company.
Some precautions to make include changing the locks in your new home, cleaning up, and transferring all utilities to your new residence. Change your address with the Postal Service and leave a forwarding address at your old home to ensure any new mail or package that may be dropped there is sent to your new address.
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Georgia has reopened and people are slowly going out and about. But if you’re not comfortable with going out just yet, you can still continue your home buying experience within the comforts of your current home. Try virtual home buying. In addition to searching for homes for sale online, you’ll substitute in-person open houses with virtual tours. And for the closing, there’s no need to meet with all parties involved. You can use your electronic signature for the relevant documents. Click here to learn more about virtual home buying and how you can make the most out of the experience for a successful purchase.
How to create a dedicated home office
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many companies have allowed their employees to work remotely in order to prevent the further spread of the virus.
While there are some who have managed to transition seamlessly into their new work-at-home setups, others may find it a bit challenging. How can you maintain your focus and stay productive when you’re working from home? One of the main things to consider is the location of your work desk within your home.
In this article, we offer a few helpful tips on how you can set up an ideal home office in any part of your home.
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On this page, we offer several helpful tips on establishing a productive workplace at home
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Saving Tips for Buying a New Home
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If you’re thinking about moving to Georgia, you won’t be disappointed. Ranked as one of the top places to live, Georgia offers excellent colleges and universities, endless opportunities for outdoor adventures, and easy access to major cities and airports. Georgia enjoys a strong economy and housing market as well, brought about by economic growth and a steady increase in population.
Now comes the challenging part: choosing where to live. While there is an abundance of great cities and neighborhoods in Georgia to live in, we’ve narrowed it down to the best ones. Find your next home in these incredible locations.
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