Top tips for getting ready to buy your 1st home

Buying your first home is a very exciting and sometimes stressful endeavor. One thing on the stressful side is the whole loan process. People are looking through all of your personal finances and telling you what you can afford and what you should not have done in your past. They will pull your credit report and go over it with a fine toothed comb. All this is before you even hit the streets to start looking at homes.

To make this a whole lot stressful there are many things you can do. Following some of the tips I have here on this will surely help.

Top tips for first time house buyers

1 : Find a Realtor that you feel comfortable with. If you find somebody trustworthy stick with them. This person is going to be spending a lot of time with you.

2: Take care of your credit. Get your credit report and find all of the flaws on your own. Pay off all collections or settlements. There may be some skeletons in your closet that will be better taken care of now than in the mortgage office.

3: Save your money. This is extremely important. If you can get 20% of the loan amount saved you can avoid the PMI (private mortgage insurance). PMI can cost 200$ a month or more and stays on your account until you prove that 20% equity has acquired. You will save thousands of dollars if you can avoid PMI.

4: Keep all of your documents. Everything that you sign or that is given to you must be kept in a safe place. I hope that you will not ever need them but if you do, they are priceless.

5: Don't take out any new loans or credit cards. Every loan, credit card or even cell phone you apply for requires they pull your credit report. Each time they pull your report a few points is deducted from your credit score. These few points could be the difference in a few hundred dollars on your monthly mortgage payment so it is best to wait until after you buy a house if you can.

6: Pay attention to the roof, appliances, furnace and water heater. If the house has a 20 year old roof and a 15 year old furnace you need to bargain down the price. These are very costly things to repair and they will need to be done within the next couple of years. It is always ideal to find a house with all new appliances but this shouldn't detour you from the your favorite pick. Use these weaknesses as a negotiating point.

7: Visualize what the house will be like. Often times people are turned away from great houses due to ugly carpet, paint or even furniture. Try to visualize the rooms with your style and furniture. It is amazing what a roller, some elbow grease and a bucket of paint can do to a room.

Good luck and I hope you find that perfect abode.