A Guide to Buying Your First Home in Today's Market

If you are looking to buy your first house in today’s market - don’t be discouraged! You may see a lot of news about homebuying being an impossible dream, but in reality, now is a great time to buy your first home. With the help of a trusted realtor, you can embark on this very exciting journey to owning your first home. To help you prepare, here’s a guide to buying your first home in today’s market.

Find a Trusted Real Estate Agent

As your real estate agent, I’ll guide you through the whole process and ensure you get a home within your budget that you are happy with. We will discuss the home-buying process, and I’ll answer any of your questions and help you feel confident about homeownership.

Identify Your How, When, Where, and Why

Before getting started, define all of your financial and personal goals to better understand why you want to buy a house and what you want to get out of it. Make sure you can answer the questions of:

• When you want to move

• Where you want to move

• What you want in a home (location, schools, amenities, etc)

• Why you want to buy a house

• How long it will take to save for the down payment and expenses

Understand Your Financial Health

Before looking at houses, you’ll want to understand where you stand financially. A great first step is checking your credit score to get a better idea of your financing options. The higher your credit score, the more flexibility you may have with loan pricing. You’ll also want to look at your monthly income (either you or a combined income if you are buying the house with someone). Determine how much of your monthly income you will put toward a monthly mortgage payment, property taxes, potential HOA fees, and upkeep. Additionally, look into how much you need to have for your down payment. Luckily, as a first-time homebuyer, you may qualify for loans with as little as 3% down, based on this list of first-time home buyer programs for Illinois residents.

Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

Getting pre-approved for a mortgage before viewing homes can give you better leverage, especially if you want to act fast and make an offer. Once you’ve addressed your financials, take this next step and get pre-approved. This way, you can look at homes knowing how much you can afford.

Start Viewing Homes

Once you are pre-approved, you can start touring homes. We will discuss what type of homes you want to see, and what your priorities are. For no cost, we will provide access to home search platforms where you can access active and pre-market listings based on your criteria to find the best options for you. Then, we’ll schedule times to walk you through the homes and make notes on what stood out. Homes tend to sell quickly these days, so keep your schedule open to ensure you have the first pick.

Make an Offer on a Home

When you are ready to make an offer on a home, I'll help you understand the value of the house by providing the comparative market analysis (CMA) in the area. From there, we’ll prepare your offer strategy based on the listing market time, the condition of the home, and the level of interest from other buyers. If it’s a multiple-offer situation, we will determine the strategy for the competitive offer.

After your offer is accepted, you will get a fully executed purchase agreement. This agreement includes the price of your new home, the estimated closing date, and other essential terms. You may then need to pay earnest money - a good faith deposit determined by you as the buyer that will eventually go toward your down payment or closing costs after you close on the house.

Home Inspection and Repair Negotiation

Once your offer is accepted, you’ll schedule a home inspection to ensure everything looks good. This inspection allows you to move forward with the closing process. If anything is discovered, we can negotiate repairs of any major issues with the seller. These issues need to be dealt with before your lender will finalize the loan. Any minor issues will not pause the process. Remember that you will be responsible for paying for the inspection unless otherwise stated.

Get the Final Stamp of Approval from your Lender

Make sure to give your lender all documentation throughout this process as they request it. Don’t assume you are owed the money based on your pre-approval. You’ll need to go through the entire underwriting process to secure the house.

Final Walkthrough and Close

The final walkthrough is conducted to ensure that nothing has happened to the property since the last time you viewed it. If any repairs were negotiated during the inspection, this is your time to check on those. The buyer’s attorney will then address if anything needs to be taken care of before the closing. At the time of closing, the attorney will be present to review all documents. The total time for closing will typically take around 2-3 hours.

Buying a home as a first-time homebuyer can be very overwhelming. In this market, you need to be very aware of your finances and have access to the best recourses.

Ready to get started? Reach out to me so I can help!