What are the things that every first time home buyer needs to know before they sign on the dotted line? We get that question all the time so we’ve put together a list of the 7 things that every first time homebuyer must know before buying their first home.
- If you look for a home before you start talking with a loan officer, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak. Most sellers will want to see that you are approved with your lender before they will
accept your offer, a trend that is becoming more and more popular. It can take less than 30 minutes to get approved. If you don’t have a good lender your Realtor will have at least a few great recommendations for you. - You can ask the seller to buy you a warranty for the ENTIRE HOME! And most of the time they do it! Your Realtor can help you negotiate for the seller to buy you a home warranty policy for 12 months or
more. I try to get this for every buyer. What a great piece of mind when buying a home… knowing that you don’t have to pay for anything that breaks within the first year. - Forget looking for a “good deal”. Look for the right house for you, and then rely upon your Realtor to negotiate the right price for you. For the right price ANY home is a “good deal”. A home can be
listed for any price the seller wants. What they agree to sell it for can be very different. Your Realtor will help you navigate this process and get the best deal for your dollar. If your Realtor is also an appraiser (hint hint), you will never be in doubt if you are spending too much. - Most of the money you spend on your mortgage can be deducted from your income, lowering your taxes each year. Yes, that is right. All monies paid towards property taxes and your loan interest can be
deducted from your income! This is a HUGE benefit over renting. - Almost every time you buy a home the seller will pay your Realtor, which means that you get someone looking, watching, guarding your best interests and you don’t even pay them because the seller does.
- When comparing Rent vs a Mortgage payment for the same property, the mortgage is almost always cheaper. This means that it actually saves you money to buy your own home. The longer you own a home the more ways you will realize how your home saves you money. You should always examine the financial and personal costs of buying real estate.
- You can always backout! In Utah the real estate purchase contract is written to overly-protect the buyer. Once you have a home “under contract” you still have many ways that you can back-out without any penalty. You can even decide that you want a whole list of repairs to the home, or a lower value. If your seller doesn’t agree then you have the right to walk-away as spelled out in your contract.
There they are! The seven most important things for you to know as a first time home buyer. There are certainly other things to consider that we’ll cover in other blog posts, but if you stick to these, you’ll protect yourself, your wallet, and eventually end up in that home you’ve been wanting for so long.
If you have any questions we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. We’re happy to help out any way we can!
