First time homebuyers often make mistakes when purchasing their first home, due to lack of enough information and inexperience in the sector. This in turn makes them lose millions of dollars in the process, leaving them reeling in pain and regret. As a first time homebuyer in Austin, you need to be very cautious in every step of the way, to avoid making the same mistakes that you peers are doing. This article will outline the top 4 most common first time homebuyer mistakes, to help you avoid them and make better choices.
Not regularly checking credit reports
Home loan lenders will often scrutinize your credit score, before deciding to approve your loan request or not and deciding the interest rates to charge you. Once they notice that your credit score is poor, they either decline your loan request or offer the home loan at a high rate because you are a default risk. Most often than not, majority of credit scores are poor due to errors in the report. This being the case, it is important to always keep checking your credit report in order to ensure that it does not contain errors and if it does, you can correct them right away.
Getting one quote
Shopping for a home loan is similar to shopping for an automobile. You need to compare the rates of different home loan lenders in order to pick the one that has your best interest. Whenever you get a quote from only one mortgage lender, chances are that they will charge you high rates. Sadly, majority of aspiring first time homeowners do not shop for their home loans, thus falling into the hands of lenders that charge exorbitant rates. This being the case, it is wise to get quotes from different lenders so that you can compare them and pick the best among them.
Ignoring first time homebuyer programs
Most often than not, first time homebuyers don’t have large sums of money to pay for the high down payment or closing costs. That is the reason why you ought to find mortgage loans that you can afford and which will ensure your financial health is superb. Luckily, there are many first time homebuyer programs that attracts low interest rates, have lenient guidelines, and have low down payment requirement. You should therefore search for these programs as they will help you save a coin or two.
Underestimating homeownership costs
When you buy your first home, you will need to cater for the monthly bills that come with it. For instance, you will have to cater for the electricity, water, or gas bills, which tend to be higher than when one is renting. To avoid being caught off-guard, it is important to work with real estate agent do that they can inform you how much monthly bills you will be required to cater for.
First Time Home Buyer Austin 