You and your bride may be planning your dream wedding, but buying your first home plays a big part of your “happily ever after.” Keep these seven key points in mind when house shopping.
Get your financial house in order.
Mistakes on your credit report or a long-forgotten bill
can derail your plans. In this hot real estate market,
you could risk losing your dream home over a late library
book. Look at your credit report, and get to work on scores
below 720.
Visualize your perfect house.
Sit down with your bride and make a list of all the features
your perfect house would contain. Does it have a big front
yard? How many bedrooms? Does it give you room to grow?
Call in reinforcements.
Buying your first home can intimidate the best of us,
so connect with an expert Realtor in your area. He or
she can point you at undiscovered finds that you won’t
see on the web. You’ll also benefit from the handholding
you’ll get at closing.
Get your mortgage first.
With sellers entertaining so many competing offers, a
firm commitment from a lender can break the tie in the
bidding war over your first home. Running the numbers
in advance reduces your stress focuses your search.
