You did it! You walked the aisle, exchanged the rings, spoke the vows, had some cake, sipped some bubbly and now…you are officially hitched. What now? After all the wedding festivity “hub-bub”, the next big step can be a bit of a “doozie”. Your first house…together.
Today kicks off part one of a three-part series exploring the exciting, and often times overwhelming process of home buying with your new honey.
What if your version of “home” looks like…
We have one word…compromise.
Today, local Realtor, Greg Barber offers some great insight to the home buying process for newlyweds…read below for some great insights from a great resource.
“The home buying experience for newlyweds is exciting and fun but there are aspects that can be stressful so I have come up with a few tips that can help reduce the stress.
1) Find a knowledgeable Realtor that you like and trust. You definitely need a real estate agent that is working for you and looking out for your best interest. Interview a few until you find one that you feel comfortable with.
2) Talk to a bank or mortgage company and get pre-approved before going to look at homes. This will save you a lot of time. Its extremely important to get pre-qualified and know what price range you need to be in and what you need your monthly mortgage amount would be.
3) Before you start house hunting have a discussion about what you each want individually in a home and what you want together as a couple. This will help you narrow the focus of your home search.
4) If you have children or plan to have children the school districts will be very important. There are various websites you can go to to find out how a school is rated.
5) Talk to neighbors. If you are serious about making an offer on a home you may want to talk to a few neighbors to find out what they think of the community.
6) Drive through the neighborhood at various times of the day. This will give you a good sense of what the community is like in the mornings/evenings/and weekends.
7) Plan for the future. Newlyweds need to take into consideration their financial situations, their future earning potential, their short term goals, and their long term family plans.8) Make sure you have a detailed home and termite inspection. Its well worth the money to find out what problems the home might have before you decide to buy it.
Next, “Money Matters” – Part Two of our series provides details into the mortgage process. Getting pre-qualified for the mortgage often proceeds, but should at least coincide with the search for your “nest for two”. Happy Hunting!