A guide to buying a house

Buying a house is a major step for anyone. This article serves as a guide to buying a home.

Looking for the right home to buy

Overview
A proper guide to buying a home is more than just picking out carpet colours or petunias for the front lawn.
A home purchase should be done carefully and with an experienced agent guiding you through the process. Before you can begin to look for the right home to buy, you have to find out what you will qualify for. It is ridiculous to look at million dollar homes when all you qualify for is a one bedroom condo. To find out what you qualify for, you can go online and use a real estate pre-qualifying calculator. If you have a simple calculator in your home, then you can do the basic computations yourself. Banks, lenders and even sellers who are willing to finance the home themselves will look at a few basic things: -Net income
-Debts
-Credit
-Potential for growth If you will take your net income and subtract all your bills, you will have a qualifying income. Take the qualifying income times 28% and that is the figure that you qualify for on a low end. Your credit rating After you have estimated what you qualify for, you can think about doing a credit report to make sure there are not any problems that you need to address. Lenders will look for a score of 700 or better and basically that is a perfect credit report. Some lenders, such as FHA and HUD will consider lower credit scores. Choosing an agent Agents should not be chosen out of the yellow pages. You should look for a recommendation from a family member or friend who has used an agent with success.
Pick an agent with experience and one with the time to help you choose the right home.
An agent who insists that you buy a home on the first day is not an agent to stick with.

Buying your first new house

Final word
If you are buying your first house, then it will be a time to take it easy and shop for the best buy, compare recent sales and look for new home perks.
Buying a new house comes with perks, such as a ten year warranty plan, no need for physical inspection and choice of colours. When you are looking to purchase a home, buy one that will fit your needs five years from now.
Look at homes that you can afford and not at those over your budget.
Look for amenities, such as new carpet, drapes and appliances being included.