Ready to Purchase Your First Home?
If you are at the point in your life where you are ready to make the leap from renter to home owner, then you will want to make sure you are ready for the responsibilities that will come your way once you are handed the keys to your very first home.
For some, the idea of buying and owning a home sounds exciting and easy while for others the expectations can seem more frightening and difficult. Regardless of which side you're on, keep in mind that the process and the responsibilities of buying and owning a home will be the same no matter how you look at it from the start. The good news is that with the right real estate agent on your side, you will be guided through each step of the home buying process so all you will have to worry about is what home is right for you and your family based on your criteria and budget.
When determining your criteria and budget, the first two things we recommend a first time home buyer focuses on is where they want to buy and how much they want to spend based on how much upfront costs they can handle, what monthly payment range they feel most comfortable with and what they are able to qualify for with their mortgage lender. After determining those to details, they can begin to focus on their future home's size, number of beds and baths and any other amenities they would like to have. Keep in mind that the larger the home and the more amenities you choose to have, the more you need to budget for on a monthly basis to cover the costs of your utilities and potential repairs.
Once you have decided where you want to live, how much you want to spend and determined your other criteria, you'll want to keep all of this in mind when viewing homes online and in person. When buying your first home it's easy to get overwhelmed with the details of a property and forget to pay attention to whether the main aspects of the home are in line with the criteria you have set out for yourself. While owning a home will require you to become somewhat more familiar with the working parts of a property, you don't need to know everything. For example, you don't need to know how the electrical systems in the house works, all you need to know if when you turn on the light switch, does the light turn on? If it doesn't, then you need to figure out why not, but if it does, that should be all you need to know. This is just an example to illustrate how in depth of an understanding you need to plan to have about the inner workings of your prospective or new home. Your time and energy is going to be better spent on making sure the home's location, price, size, features and layout are the best fit for your family.
You will want to make sure that once you find the perfect home and have your offer accepted by the seller that you get the home inspected within your inspection period (typically 10 days in Arizona) to make sure that all major working parts are functioning the way they should be and you aren't buying a money pit that will cost you greatly after the home becomes your responsibility.
The remaining steps you will want to plan for in the home buying process can be found on our Home Buying Process page. We recommend you review the information on that page as well to ensure that you have properly familiarized yourself with the general steps you can expect to take on your path to future home ownership.
If you would like to discuss the home buying process in more detail at any time, please contact us and one of our agents will be able to answer any questions you have.