Home Buying 101: The First Step

Want to buy a home? Start here!

Step #1 – Find out what you can afford

How do you find out? Talk to a lender. 

You need to be pre-approved before writing an offer anyway, and no busy/successful agent is going to waste their time showing homes to someone who hasn’t been pre-approved. Oh, and online calculators don’t count! 

I can’t tell you how many times people told me how much they thought they could afford or that they were ready to buy, and when they talked to a “real” mortgage professional, found out they were way off. It is sad to watch someone have their dreams crushed before your very eyes. It doesn’t matter if you think you are a year or more away from buying, call a lender today and avoid/manage dream crushage. 

If the lender finds a surprise on your credit report, they can help advise you on what needs to be done to improve your credit so that you can benefit from the most favorable rates out there. They should also be able to give you a realistic timeline as to when things can be cleaned up so you can begin looking at homes so you can then transform into the “ready, willing, and able” buyer we Realtors are always lovingly referencing. 

If you find out you can’t afford the homes/areas you love (this happens to almost ALL first time buyers in Charleston ☺) evaluate your options with the lender. Can you save more and bump up to the higher price point in your BFF’s neighborhood? Or can you make some adjustments and find homes in an area and price point that do in fact work for you and commit to “lowered expectations.”

Don’t have a lender? Check with your local bank if you have one, or if you are working with a Realtor or agent already, ask them for a few recommendations. They will likely give you the contacts of mortgage professionals that share their style, so if you trust your agent and think he or she is a badass, take their recommendations, call those folks, and choose the one that gives you not necessarily the best rate/fees, but the one that is able to explain the process with ease and patience, and give you reasonable advice based on their expertise. 

Just like a Realtor, creating a relationship with a good mortgage professional can be an asset to you for life.