Straight Talk About Real Estate

I have had many people tell me they are thinking about buying their first home. But they have many questions and concerns. What should they do to prepare to buy a house? Where should they buy? Should they buy now or wait until they save up more money?

Many first time buyers don’t know enough about the buying process to know what questions to ask, or they ask the wrong questions.

This is the first in a series of posts on steps to buying your first house. If you are not a first time buyer, but have not purchased a home for a while, this will help you too as the real estate market has probably changed somewhat.

It is not easy nowadays to buy a house. Not only is it a large financial responsibility, but the legal issues and the complicated process can be intimidating for a first time buyer. There are also many questions dealing with each buyer’s unique personal circumstances that need to be discussed before making a commitment to buy. We will explore each step. If you have any questions about your particular situation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment.

The first step in buying a home is not about money. While buying a home is a financial investment, you first need to answer this question: Why do I want to buy?
If you have a strong motivation to buy, and willing to do what it takes, there will be ways to work out the financing.

There are many reasons you might want to buy a house. Some are financial and some are personal. Tax advantages, building equity, and safe investment return are all good financial reasons. While some people say they are buying real estate purely for investment purposes, there is always a personal side involved. I have found in my experience that buyers who say they want real estate as an investment still want to choose a house they like. Even if I show them a house that is a good value, they won’t buy it if they don’t like the way it looks and feels. So you must be clear about your motivation.

Why do you want to buy a house? You are tired of renting? You want to fix up a house the way you like it? Your motivation to buy must be strong. If you do not have a srong motivation to buy, you will not be able to make a decision when you start to look for homes available on the market. You will end up window shopping and find fault in every house you see. I know someone who says she wants to buy a house, but after two years, she still haven’t bought one. I don’t believe that there is no house out there that suits her needs. She just wasn’t motivated enough to make a decision. So it is not enough to say you want to buy a house because everyone else owns a house. Determine first if you have compelling reasons to buy now.

If they’re compelling, you’ll have to consider your finances and ask the right questions. What finances do you need to consider? Which questions do you need to ask? Read on to find out!

Want to jump quickly to the other Buying posts? Here’s an index to help you out.

#1: Getting ready to buy
#2: Looking at finances
#3: Checking your credit
#4: Qualifying for a loan
#5: Determining the price to shop for
#6: Finding the location
#7: Proximity to your workplace
#8: Choosing your agent
#9: Cautions in the search
#10: Moving into your new home