Do's and Don'ts When Home Shopping
Welcome to the 1st blog post in the month-long series of “First-Time Homeowner”! Throughout the month of June, I will be posting at the beginning of every week and providing different viewpoints, lessons and advice all about the home shopping / buying experience. My husband and I dealt with our own home buying journey from December 2022 - April 2023. I know that everyone’s timeline for their first-time homebuying experience is different, but I think all of the points I will bring up in this month-long series will teach you a thing or two along the way. There are some parts of the home shopping experience that I don’t believe get expressed enough, so let’s dive into the Do’s and Dont’s when home shopping.
Do's
Get Pre-Approved with your Lender
Coming from a person who works in a big banking corporation & got a pre-approval with their lender early, it made things SO MUCH EASIER when it came to talking within leasing agents and getting the home buying paperwork started. Having a pre-approval from your bank or lender, whether it is a loan or a home mortgage, makes house shopping much easier and a little bit of a faster process, seeing as the leasing agent who is selling the house can see you as a potential buyer & having the funds to prove it. If you are not going through a lender, at least have the knowledge at hand of where your funds are coming from.
Get a home inspection done by a professional
One thing I do not regret doing is getting a professional to do a home inspection on the home that we put a contingent offer on. My husband and I had much more peace of mind, knowing that the home we put an offer on would only be a legitimate offer, contingent on the home inspection coming back with minimal adjustments. Whenever you get a home inspection done, that professional comes into the property and examines foundational issues, cosmetic issues, any nick, scratch, leak or ding…that home professional will catch it. And let’s just say, that home inspection comes back with a report, saying that the structural beams of the house need to be updated. Had you not gotten that home inspection done, you may have gotten that house (not knowing the structural beams problem), and having to fork out $10k+ after closing on an issue you could have known about earlier. Some states, like North Carolina, are buyer-beware states. This means that an individual is buying at their own risk. Home inspections do cost a pretty penny ($300 - $400 in my area, at least), but it is so worth it.
Look into more than one neighborhood
One part that many might not think of, when home shopping, is the neighbors you live by. It is very important to look into more than one neighborhood for your future home. There are different kind of homes (which I did not know at first), and they can include: modular homes, manufactured homes, mobile homes, and then your typical residential home. Some neighborhoods are built entirely from modular homes (which are homes that are built at another location and brought to the location — like Clayton Homes). Whereas other neighborhoods could be next to Section 8 housing, a busy intersection, a major business, etc. Make sure you choose your neighborhood properly, and also check out the neighborhood at different times of the day. By visiting your potential new neighborhood at dusk/dark, you will be able to see how lit up the streets are and how the home looks at that time of day.
Use a reputable realtor
I want to preach to the choir that the first realtor you choose is not going to be the 100% All-Star realtor you are dreaming of. Our first realtor we chose decided to go on a week-long vacation, as we were in active negotiation for a property, and just ghosted us for a week with no contact. Kind of a scary situation, but it is so important to choose a reputable realtor that will be there for you & work alongside with you. After all, you are both after a common goal — getting you the house of your dreams! If your realtor is not answering your questions in a timely manner, or not keeping your best interests at heart, it might be best to choose another realtor more aligned with what you are looking for.
Don'ts
Look too outside of your price range
If you are looking at houses that are listed above the price range you can afford, don’t even start believing that the house will come down in price during negotiation time. The housing market can fluctuate daily, so keep tabs on the areas you are interested in and the properties that pop up in those areas. Just be smart, and do not look at houses too outside of your price range — it is not worth your time. My advice for looking at houses within a price range is to make the “MAX” amount when searching, a little above the actual saved amount / loan amount. For example, our home mortgage had us pre-approved for $175k, so we looked at houses with a max price of $180k. The reason for this is that, depending on the area, it gave us more properties to select from. Also, if a home inspection is done and things are found out to lower the house value, you can bring that up in negotiation. Just be smart with listing the max budget, when searching for homes.
Skip the Inspection
In case you didn’t catch my drift from earlier in the post, I am not joking when I tell you to GET THE HOME INSPECTION. You will be kicking yourself if you don’t get an inspection, something breaks in the house after you buy it, home insurance comes out & tells you they can’t cover it. No matter if the property you are looking at is a new-build, or 120 years old, a home inspection is needed for anything you are putting your savings / home mortgage into. This is an investment, and you want to make it a smart one. So please, for the love of all that is good, don’t skip the home inspection.
Rush the Home-Buying Process
There is no need to rush the home-buying process. At the beginning of the process, it may seem slow. But once the offer you made is accepted by the seller, things start happening very quickly. I tried my best to keep up with my realtor and lender, almost daily, to make sure I did not miss a beat. But there are some days in the home-buying process where nothing is happening, as you are either waiting on the seller, or waiting for the lender to do something. It is really important to be on your toes when it comes to first-time home-buying, as things can change at the flip of a hat. Also, this is the only time you will be buying a house for the first time. Relish in the good moments, and don’t rush it. You will only be a first-time homebuyer once.
Buy more house than you need
Even though you might be intrigued to buy the most amount of square footage for your budget, that might not always be the best bet. In some situations, you could actually become “house poor”. If you have never heard that before, let me explain it briefly. As discussed on Rocket Mortgage:
The expressions “house poor” and “house broke” refer to the situation where homeowners have bought homes beyond their means. They end up spending all their income on repairs and expenses, forgoing vacations and discretionary spending. Instead of being your sanctuary, your home becomes your albatross.
With more square footage, comes more floor beams and structural issues to worry about. Be smart with how much you are biting off, in terms of how much square footage you are purchasing for your new home. You may be able to grow into the home, with children or maybe even some pets. Just don’t go house broke.
I hope these do’s and don’ts give you some perspective, and best of luck if you are on the house hunt!
Tune in next Sunday for another blog post in the “First Time Homeowner” series.
