Taking the First Steps
Home buying is an exciting process. You can make sure it stays that way by reviewing the information on my site and the tips that I will give you.
Your first job is to figure out how much you can and want to spend on your new home. It's simpler for us to work backwards in the process, starting off with how much you want to spend. By knowing your budget, we can then determine the areas and types of properties that you can afford. Loan conditions are changing constantly in this challenging economic climate, so it's best to speak to a lender or bank before you begin your home search to make sure that we being looking at homes that are in a comfortable and affordable price range.
A good way to begin this task is to figure out what you want to pay monthly for all of your housing costs (e.g. mortgage, taxes & insurance). At the same time, try to get a sense of what your maximum tolerable monthly housing costs are. These figures will help the lender and I to determine what the comfortable and maximum property prices should be for you.
There are a host of online mortgage calculators that can give you a rough idea of what your monthly loan payments will be. Keep in mind that these figures are not exact, as they do not take into account the multitude of lending options out there that will reduce your payments. One of my favorite sites for ease-of-use is the Moneychimp financial site.
Once you've got a good idea of what you want to spend, you'll need to talk to a lender or bank to see what amount you are approved to buy, what interest rate you can get, and what attractive loan options may be available to you. I have a great team of experienced, service-oriented lending professionals that I would be happy to refer you to.
You will no doubt want to take a look at what's on the market, if you haven't done so already. By knowing roughly how much you can spend, you can easily and quickly search for properties online. The RE/MAX website provides you with access to all of the listed properties on the market.
The database that I use to search for homes on your behalf is a comprehensive source of information that will give you more details about homes that you're interested in. Aside from the time that we'll spend viewing together, I encourage you to look at properties online and to explore - by foot or car - the neighborhoods that you're interested in, as well as to visit open houses on the weekend.
Insider's Insight: Contrary to what many people think, the websites for major real estate companies don't just show the homes that are listed with that particular company. RE/MAX's site, for example, shows all of the properties that are listed by the NWMLS, the organization in charge of listing and maintaining all homes for sale in the region. Due to the huge presence that my company has both nationally and worldwide, you can even search for properties in difference cities or countries.