If you’ve never bought a home before, you may have a lot of questions about the home buying process. Buying a home isn’t a light matter. You need to find a home that you will love now and in a year. With this, you need to know what to look for and what to do to ensure you find the perfect home for you.

Keller Williams Realty is providing first time home buyers with a complimentary copy of Your First Home: The Proven Path to Home Ownership. All you need to do is fill out the online form and wait for it to arrive. The Realtors are based in Charleston, SC but may still send you a copy if you request one. If not, you can find it on Amazon.com.

Of course, if you ever have any questions about buying a home for the first time, you can talk to your Realtor. Realtors understand the anxiety of first time home buying and can answer your questions easily. If you have questions about mortgages, you can also ask your Realtor but a better person to ask is your lender. Just keep in mind, these people want your business, so they will and should bend over backwards to help you understand. These people are also on your side rather than the seller’s side since they are representing you. If you feel at anytime that your Realtor is not working with you and not answering your questions, it’s important that you find someone who will. Don’t go into this home buying experience with someone who won’t make it a pleasant and informative process.

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When you are looking to buy a home, you may tour many of them before you decide on which one you want. You might think that the home is the most important thing when buying a home but the neighborhood is also an essential aspect to consider.

• If you have children, you might be interested in knowing how good the school district is and if the neighborhood is family friendly.
• You might also want to know if there are any criminals living in the area.
• If you are a college student, you may want to buy a home near other students so you can meet some new friends.
• If you are retired, you may want a quiet living area and be around other retirees.
• If you are moving somewhere new, you may be looking for a luxurious area or vacation area to live.

Since you probably won’t know anyone who lives in the neighborhood you are considering buying in, you can use an online tool called Neighborhood Scout. This is one of the most interesting sites! You can search for the best schools in the area you want to move to or choose exactly what you are looking for in a neighborhood and where you want it. The search engine is simple to use and you can find out just about anything you want about the area you want to move to.

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Before you settle on a Realtor to help you with buying a home, you should ask a series of questions. This person has a big part in helping you find the home you want to buy and live in for the next few years, you should make sure that you are getting someone who will make that possible and you will be able to work with. You can usually ask these questions when you first call him or her at the Realtor’s office. This way, you won’t have to waste time with a home visit when you know it’s not going to work out. Beware that some Realtors want to only speak to you when coming to your home for the presentation, simply tell the person you want to ask a few questions before going forward in the process.

Here are some questions to ask:

• What types of resources do you use to help people find a home?

• What are your hours of availability to show a home?

• How many people in the past month, 6 months or year have you helped close on a home?

• How long have you been in real estate?

• How long do you anticipate that it will take to find a home I am looking for?

• Do you often network with other Realtors to find out about new houses that come on the market as quickly as possible?

• How long do I have to work with you if I enter into a Realtor contract with you?

Do you have any questions you would like to add? Leave a comment and share!

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Are you renting and wonder if you should make the leap to buying a home? Consider the following to help make your decision:

• Your financial situation

Request your credit report and see if you have a good credit score. This will be important when it comes time to get a mortgage. You want to have a good credit to debt ratio (having way more credit than debt is what you want).

Budget your finances and see how much you can afford to pay on a home. If your rent is inexpensive, consider what type of home you can get for the same amount. Is it better to continue renting or live in a smaller and less comfortable home?

Do you expect a change in your financial situation in the next couple of years? Either making more or earning less? You may want to wait so you can buy a home that will better meet your needs in the future.

• How long do you expect to own

If you move around a lot such as in the military or because of your business, you may reconsider buying a home. Usually, you can make enough equity in a house in about four years to make it worth it to own. Owning a home for at least two years also means you won’t lose out on capital gains taxes.

• Working on a home

Are you able to work in the yard and fix things in a home? Or will you have to endure the cost of hiring someone? Consider these before buying a home. Remember, when you rent, this is all taken care of.

While owning a home is a wiser decision in many situations, renting can also be a good choice if you are not in the right position to buy.

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When thinking of buying a home, you may hear the words pre-qualified and pre-approved thrown around. It’s important to know the difference between these so you can make buying a home much easier.

Pre-Qualified for Buying a Home

Pre-qualified gives you a roundabout figure of how much you can afford. This can help you eliminate looking at homes that you won’t be able to get a mortgage for.

Pre-qualification is quite simple. You can do it over the phone, via email or in person. All you have to do is provide some financial information such as your income, assets and your debt amount. Your credit report will not be analyzed at this time.

Pre-Approved for Buying a Home

Pre-approval will provide you with a set amount of how much you will be able to get a mortgage for if you settle on a home. You will be able to know about how much your interest rate will be and receive a letter that shows that you will be able to afford a home at or below the pre-approved amount.

The process of pre-approval involves much more investigation than pre-qualification. You will have to fill out an application and provide statements and documentation of your income, assets, and debt. The lender will pull your credit report to find out what your credit rating is.

Sellers favor potential buyers who are pre-approved for a mortgage. If you are buying in a seller’s market, it’s best to be pre-approved so you have a better chance of entering into a contract. A seller will trust a buyer who is pre-approved over someone who isn’t because it’s insurance that the buyer will be able to get a loan for the amount of the house.

Buyer advice: Don’t get pre-qualified unless you are just curious about how much you can afford. If you are serious about buying, get pre-approved right from the start of your home search.

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