5 Tips For A Stress-Free Home-Buying Experience
Happy African American couple first time home buyers celebrate new house purchase on moving day, smiling husband embracing lifting excited young wife laughing standing among boxes in own flat house
If you’re already planning to buy your first home, your mind must be filled with vivid visions of a forever home. But with research showing that one in three Americans are reduced to tears in the process of purchasing new homes, you’d better approach it differently. If you don’t know how to go about it, the process will surely turn out to be another anxiety-inducing nightmare. (1)
With that in mind, this article brings you seven tips for a stress-free home-buying experience.
- Search online listings
Some years back, the two main ways of searching for a house on sale were reading the real estate section of newspapers and scouring through communities of interest for a ‘For Sale’ sign. But now that every industry is going digital, the best approach is searching homes for sale online. This comes with the following benefits:
- Convenience: Online searches enable you to evaluate thousands of homes from the comfort of your current property. For instance, if you’re looking down to settle in the state of Arizona, a quick search for Scottsdale, AZ, home listings—or other cities in the state, say, Phoenix or Tucson—at one popular site yielded more than 31,000 homes when writing this article.
- Side-by-side analysis: Online home listings usually have numerous interior design pictures that can help you compare several homes side by side. Eventually, you get to choose the house with your preferred finishes.
- Time-saving: Using the internet for home searches ensures you use only a little time out of your busy schedule, as all you have to do is scroll through online pages rather than driving through neighborhoods of interest to identify homes on sale. (2)
The internet has a wealth of information nowadays, especially for first-time homebuyers. If you’re interested in exploring some online home listings, see more here.
- Improve your credit score
As homes can be expensive, the chances are high that you’ll take a mortgage loan rather than pay the total amount in cash. To get a mortgage, some providers require a credit score as high as 640, while the more lenient ones go down to 500. If yours isn’t anywhere near these figures, you might not qualify for the mortgage. (3)
Additionally, the lower your credit score is, the higher the interest rate for your mortgage will be. In 2019, the average mortgage rate was 3.63% to 4.99% for home buyers with a credit score of 740 to 850, and 5.25% to 5.99% for credit scores 620 to 639. The 2% difference in these rates may seem small, but it translates to thousands of dollars over the mortgage period. So make a point of improving your credit score before you start buying a house. (3)
- Take a homebuyer course
Consider taking the stress away by enrolling in an in-person or online homebuyer course. Here are some of the things you’ll learn:
- The costs associated with buying a home
- Pros and cons of homeownership
- Mortgage pre-qualification
- Home inspection best practices
- Budgeting for a home purchase
- How to apply for a home loan
- Your responsibilities during and after the closure
- How to make an offer
- The proper homebuyer’s mindset
After completing a comprehensive course, you’ll be armed with enough knowledge to buy your home stress-free.
- Know what to look for
Research indicates that most prospective buyers consider the views and storage spaces more than anything else when buying homes. While these are critical factors to consider, there are many more, as outlined below: (4)
- Ownership history: Ensure that the seller isn’t a fake one so as to avoid future legal tussles.
- Room sizes: Go for room sizes that match your desired lifestyle and family size.
- Stairs: Ensure you can use the stairs, especially if you have any physical incapacity.
- Privacy: If you treasure privacy, you’d want to buy a home enclosed with a robust and opaque fence.
- Other features: Consider the presence or absence of backyard patios, custom fire pits, awnings, natural water features, outdoor kitchens, etc.
- Neighborhood: Look at the distances to the nearest schools, hospitals, shopping centers, social halls, amusement parks, and railway or bus terminals.
- Hire a realtor
You wouldn’t want to walk down the home-buying road alone. Getting a realtor with vast professional experience might be the best decision during your home purchasing. And as it costs you nothing to hire one, given that their commission comes directly from the sale, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use their services.
They’ll help you spot any red flags in any home you set your eyes on. Additionally, they see to it that you find a habitable home in your preferred location and that you stick to your budget.
Conclusion
Buying a home shouldn’t stress you as it does other things. For a stress-free experience, consider the five tips outlined in this article. In a nutshell, make use of online listings, improve your credit score in advance, take a homebuyer’s course, know what to look for, and hire a realtor. Following these tips to the letter will guarantee you a smooth home-buying experience.
References
- “Buying a home is an anxiety-inducing nightmare: study”, Source: https://nypost.com/2018/08/06/buying-a-home-is-an-anxiety-inducing-nightmare-study/
- “The Benefits of Searching Homes for Sale Online”, Source: https://www.financeglobe.com/post/the-benefits-of-searching-homes-for-sale-online
- “What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a House in 2021?” Source: https://www.thebalance.com/credit-score-needed-to-buy-house-4693727
- “What do people look at when viewing a house?” Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/online-estate-agent/what-people-look-for-when-viewing-house/