3 Huge House-Hunting Mistakes to avoid at all Costs

It’s that time of the year. Once you get serious about buying a house, it’s time to start house hunting. But before you dedicate your weekend to visiting every open house, you need to know what you’re looking for. Otherwise, the process of shopping for your dream home could get pretty over-whelming!

Here are 3 huge house-hunting mistakes first-time house hunters often make when looking for a home.

House hunting without an agent

Without an agent, you will be flipping through photos of possible homes, researching local trends, market values, and other important information on your own. All of which can be confusing. 

An agent will dive through online databases and other sites to walk you through the information. They will be able to give you some insight about the neighborhoods you’re looking at. They will also help you avoid costly negotiating mistakes when it comes time to make an offer.

Not knowing what you want but expecting perfection.

It’s important to sort out your priorities and make a list before you start shopping for a home. Not every house is the same, after all there are many different types of properties to look at.

Looking for the perfect sized home in a perfect neighborhood with a perfect open kitchen and the best schools, at an affordable price range… it all seems too unrealistic. With such high expectations, you’ll have a hard time searching for the right home. It’s rare to get everything you want on your list, but two out of three isn’t so bad.

Focus on what’s most important for you.

Ignoring the neighborhood

When looking for your dream home, you want to make sure you have some time to tour the neighborhood as well. A bad neighborhood isn’t always obvious, but a little digging is worth it to find out if this is the house for you. Keep an eye out for a lack of parking, take notice of the homes around the area, find out info on your local schools. Are there more than a few homes on the market or empty in the area? This could be a red flag.

You also want to be able to check for local shops, public transportation, or restaurants if those conveniences are important to you.

If you’re ready to make a move, why not learn all about mortgage loans for first time buyers! We’re happy to help you make the best decision. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us, we look forward to hearing from you! 

6 Terms First-Time Homebuyers Must Know

Your story starts with dreaming, as many do, then searching for your perfect home. You started to have lots of conversations about the kind of house you wanted to shop for. You started to casually shop online. One day, you stopped by just in time to see this one house for sale. So, you called an agent about buying a home and suddenly in blink in the eye you find yourself at closing in a matter of weeks, wondering how everything happened so quickly. Questioning yourself, “Did I pick the right mortgage loan?”

Too often, first time homebuyers rush into homeownership because it’s a sign of independence and adulthood. When truthfully, you don’t know the steps to buying a house or the type of mortgage you need. Whether it’s choosing the wrong location or buying an overpriced home, buying a home is a major part of your life.

Before you allow yourself to search for homes, check out these 5 terms you must know. Especially if this is your first time making one of the biggest purchases of your life.

Fixed-Rate Mortgage

This means the interest rate is set when you take out the loan and will not change. So, your monthly mortgage payment won’t change much over the years.

Adjustable-Rate Mortgage

With an adjustable rate mortgage, the interest rate may go up or down. Many ARMs will start at a lower interest rate than fixed rate mortgages. This initial rate may stay the same for months, or a few years, however, as the interest rate index climbs, so will your own interest rate and monthly payments.

Pre-Qualified

When searching for a home, your first step is to get pre-qualified. This can be confusing because Homebuyers tend to mix it up with pre-approved.

The pre-qualification step allows you to discuss any goals you need to regarding your mortgage with a lender.  It’s based only on the information you provide to the lender where it sums up the amount for which you might expect to be approved.

It certainly helps if you want to start the process of looking for a house.

Preapprovals are much bigger deals. A preapproval is a document that verifies the information during the pre-qualification. If pre-approved, you’ve basically been told that the bank will lend you money for a house.

Conventional

A conventional loan is a mortgage that is not backed or insured by the government, such as Department of Veterans Affairs, or Federal Housing Administration.

Conventional mortgages are ideal for borrowers with good or excellent credit. People with credit problems might qualify for conventional loan depending on the financial institution. 

Appraisal

Let’s say you found a home you are interested in. The asking price is $400,000. It’s the amount you’ve already been approved for by your bank. But is the home worth $400,000?

An appraisal will determine what your property is worth.

Since your dream is $400,000, but the appraisal shows that it’s worth $300,000, then the home is overpriced.

An appraisal also protects the bank from getting stuck with properties that are worth less than they’ve invested. And it protects you from paying too much for a house simply because it’s your dream house.

Escrow

The word can be used in different meanings, but when you think Escrow, think of a third, neutral party. According to Zillow, when you make an offer on a home, you will write an earnest money check that will be placed in escrow. It is being held by the third, neutral party probably set up by your real estate agent. Until you and the seller negotiate a contract and close the deal.

However, if the seller decides to sell the house to somebody else, you would get your deposit back. Overall, it protects both parties.

If you want a full team of Mortgage Professionals to help your decision on what is the best loan option for you, we’re happy to help! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 770-552-1000. We look forward to hearing from you!

Is Buying a Home Your New Year Resolution?

The holiday season is all about traditions, and one of the biggest traditions is making a New Year’s resolution. It’s time for many of you to start thinking about your New Year’s resolution. What if your resolution is owning a home? After all, it’s a new year and a new you.

As we head into 2019, more millennials are aging into their early or mid-thirties and are interested in homeownership. They continue to be the primary drivers of homeownership demand.  

According to Keeping Current Matters, more than half of the purchased mortgages originated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2018 were to first-time homebuyers.

So, what is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two big reasons we have 30-year fixed home loans in the US. Fannie Mae loans offer down payments as low as 3 percent. While Freddie Mac Loans offer down payments as low as 3 to 5 percent.

Did you know:

•            86 percent of millennial buyers consider owning a home to be more affordable than renting.
• ·         80 percent of millennial buyers say homeownership has positively impacted their long-term finances. 
• ·         60 percent of millennial buyers would encourage their younger selves to start saving for house sooner.

Most millennials feel that the economy’s holding steady, and the time could be right to buy. If that sounds like you, make your new year resolution come true.  Feel free to start the process off right by talking to us. We can answer your questions and help you get pre-qualified.

 Facebook | LinkedIn | Katz Mortgage Team | Instagram