You Want to Buy a Home Soon; When Should You Start Looking?
posted in Mortgage News
If you’ve reached a point in your life when buying your first home is not only possible, but desirable, then does it make any sense to wait? I mean, what exactly would you be waiting for?
Keeping in mind the fact that just because you find a home you want to buy, doesn’t mean that it’ll happen right away, or that it will happen at all, it really makes no sense to wait around. As any mortgage broker or real estate agent will tell you, the process of finding a property (if you find one), placing an offer on it, having the offer accepted (that’s assuming that it is), paying for it and moving in, is never usually a swift one, and by delaying any part of it, you’re simply making it last a whole lot longer, and for what?
The reality is, finding the right home to buy, can take years
From the day you begin house hunting, until your mortgage ultimately funds, there is a strong possibility that many months have passed, we could even be talking years. While this of course doesn’t mean that every day is going to be filled with looking for a home, applying for mortgages and buying new furniture, it does mean that the process can be very longwinded, and that when you’re ready to buy a home, you should start looking for one right away.
What can you do to expedite the process of buying a home?
The first thing you should do to help make sure that when you find a property you want to buy, you can actually afford it, is to qualify for a mortgage.
Get mortgage pre-approval - the mortgage should always come before the home, and any experienced mortgage broker will tell you this. Knowing you can actually obtain financing and at what price range, helps ensure that you only look for properties you can afford, and that you don’t waste your time (or anyone else’s), shopping for homes that are outside of your price range.
Searching for a new home without knowing whether you qualify for a mortgage, is never a smart move, and getting a mortgage pre-approval is both easy and highly recommended.
Once you’re ready to start looking for a new home, be proactive and don’t wait for that house to come and find you…because the chances are, it won’t!
- Set up property searches with email updates – with your mortgage pre-approval under your belt, you can start searching for homes within your price range, and by setting up alerts when new properties you might be interested in come up, you can check them out before the crowds.
Wanting to buy a new home and actually getting to the point where you make a successful bid that’s accepted, can take a long time. So if you’ve decided that now is the right time to move into a new home, don’t waste any time thinking about it, set up a meeting with a financial advisor and a reputable mortgage broker in your locality, and find out what you can afford before beginning your search.