First Steps When Buying a Home!

Thinking About Buying a Home – Here’s a Few Tips!
We all start online, looking at the pictures, falling in love with someone’s kitchen or hating someone else’s paint colors. That’s a great place to start, but don’t get too far ahead of yourself... Here's a guideline for you to follow before you start looking to buy.


First: Find a Realtor and a Mortgage Lender
A good realtor will act as the processes general contractor - directing traffic, smoothing out the bumps, and suggesting other professionals to join your team. After an agent, the first addition should be a good mortgage lender. Here are some important questions you can ask both:

• What will I need to pay for?
• How many people have you helped?
• What is the market like now and what do you foresee a year from now?
• If you were in my shoes, where and what would you buy?
• Why did you pick the area you live in?

Second:  Get Pre-Qualified
An essential and early step in buying a home is making sure you know your price range, are comfortable with your monthly payment, and can get a pre-approval letter. By providing some simple information to your lender, they can let you know how much you’re pre-approved for, your estimated monthly payment, and give you a few educated suggestions about the upcoming process.
Click this link to get started with a trusted-local lender: Guild Mortgage


 Third: Create a List of Needs/Wants
Get the family together and create a list of all the things you need and a separate list of all the things you want.  Then talk to your agent about what your price range can provide and filter through the lists. Here are a few things to think about:

• How many beds and baths do you need?
• What do you need to be close to - downtown, schools, shopping, etc.
• Do you need space outside - for kids, animals, storage
• What kind of “extras” do you need – shop, garage, office, bonus room
• What type of style, floorplan, and setting do you want?

Fourth: Stay Active in the Process
Now, with pre-approval in-hand, you and your agent can set out to find your new home. Your agent will update you as new homes come on the market. It’s important to quickly look over everything that comes your way and keep communication open with your agent. Homes, markets, and preferences can change quickly, so talk frequently. With all of the available-online information these days, if you stay active, you will become an expert in your area and in your price range – you and your agent will become quite a team.
The home buying process can be intimidating and can have some bumps along the way. But with a little preparation and a good team – it can also be exciting and worth every minute.
Click this link to view all Central Oregon properties that are for sale: bendoregonrealestate.com/buy

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