The Ultimate Guide to Buying a Home in the US

Buying a home is a huge milestone for many people. Although many fear that this is a rather stressful experience, it doesn’t really have to be that way at all. With dedicating your time and efforts to properly researching everything in detail, you will be in control of the home purchasing process.

If your goal is to become a homeowner, but you don’t know enough about the best ways to achieve that, our article will serve as a guide that will provide you with everything you need to take into consideration before making a purchase!

Hiring a realtor

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Finding the right realtor is essential for a painless purchasing process. Ultimately, you should be opting for an expert with years of experience behind them, who will understand you and make sure that all of your wants and needs are being fulfilled.

To be certain that you have chosen the best possible realtor, the first thing you need to do is to check for their licenses and disciplinary actions. In order to do that, you should check the regulatory body of your state to find out if your prospective realtor is licensed and whether there have been any complaints or disciplinary actions against them.

Also, you need to talk with their most recent clients. Ask your potential realtors to provide you with lists of their past clients along with their contact information. After, you should find out how experienced the realtor is, if they have the right credentials, look at their current listings and make sure they possess a broad knowledge of the area you are interested in.

Settling your finances

Savings account

Setting up a savings accounts is always a good idea and even more so when you decide that you want to buy a home. The first step, of course, is to set a goal since in most cases you will be required to pay a certain amount of money in advance.

For example, if you want to buy a house in 3 years, it is best to regularly deposit a fixed amount of money. Let’s say that you need to pay 10 000$ in advance, for three years you would have to deposit around 265$ per month. Remember: good planning is the key to success.

Loans

There are various different loans you may want to consider: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), GSE-backed loans, USDA, VA, etc. You can find all sorts of calculators online that will help you determine the amount of your down payment based on the price of the house, type of loan you choose, credit rating, and location.

Financial privileges and benefits

When it comes to privileges and benefits, if you are a veteran – the best thing to do is to opt for a VA Jumbo loan. VA loans have proven to be a great choice for purchasing and refinancing a home. However, in many countries, the loan limit without money down is 417,000 USD.

If your new home happens to cost more than this, you need to get a Jumbo loan. Qualifying veterans have an option to apply to refinance or purchase their home up to the value of 1,000,000 USD. VA Jumbo loan offers higher loan amounts compared to the conventional loans and more flexible requirements.

Looking for a home

Before you decide to purchase a home, there are numerous factors you should be taking into consideration. For instance, you need to make a choice according to the size of your family, preferred neighborhoods, your assets and income, etc.

It is advisable to make a list of features before you even start looking for a new home. Think about whether you want your house to have a fenced yard, a garage, how many bedrooms would you like it to have, and then rank these features according to their level of importance.

The negotiations

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You have managed to find your dream home – so it is now time to make an offer and negotiate a bit! The main problems people face in this step is that they don’t want to lose the property they have chosen to another buyer, and that they don’t want to insult their realtor by offering too little, but they don’t want to pay more than necessary either.

That is why the first thing you need to do here is to look for other home sales in your desired area and compare their prices. Next, you should consider the time your potential home has been on the market, and what the market is like in that neighborhood in order to come up with the right offer.

The payment

Unless you can cash out the full sum of money upfront when you are buying your new home, it is probably a good idea to strategize. As we have already mentioned above, in most cases you will be required to pay a portion of the total sum in advance, but what about the rest of your payment?

Should you opt out for all-cash payments or time-based loan payments? To figure this one out, you have to factor in the amount of money you would need to pay for the property of course, but also – how will paying this sum affect your personal finances short term. Before you decide on which way you should go, spend some time getting advice from professionals and people with experience, and also consult your other family members.

Time to move in

After finding your dream house and purchasing it, the only thing left to do is – to move in! For most people, the thought of moving presents a lot of hard work and stress, but remember that good organization is half of the work done!

Make a good plan and then hire a moving company or ask your family and friends for some help as moving all of your belongings usually takes more time that people normally assume. After all is done you can heat up the grill and invite your new neighbors for some good old BBQ. Now you can relax, enjoy and celebrate, as you have more than earned it!

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