Buying Your First Home Guide

Buying your first home – some call this the American dream, owning a house. A place of your own, a place to make all the decisions, decorate as you like, have a garden, plant some trees, add a wall or a decorative sidewalk of designed brick or flagstone. Decide on the lighting fixtures, brass or black iron, perhaps a lamppost. Indoors, there are things that can be added as you choose, such as a large scenic window, a fireplace, a fancy front door. You may like a tiled kitchen of a particular design, a bath with a decorative sink and shower.Whatever you add is fine, because it is your house, not a rented tenement or apartment, but your home.

Our website is filled with resources which will help you learn all that is involved with buying a home. As you navigate our site, you’ll find pages about home financing, what to look for when buying a home, home buying tips and more. On this page, we’ll discuss some basic info on buying your first home and encourage you to navigate our website further, to make buying your home a more comfortable process.

Location of Your First Home

When buying your first home, the first thing to consider is: Where do you want to live? Is it in a neighborhood where you can get to know people on your street or even on the streets nearby? Do you have children that can make new friends, and do you want to be close to their school. Or you may like something that allows you privacy, a place that is peaceful and away from the day to day crowd. Is it important to have land? Do you enjoy the city life, or the suburbs just outside of it? You may like the country, scenery, the mountains or a lake. Some may love the sea and want to live close to the coast. Last but not least, do you need to be close to your customers, supply houses or place of employment?

Deciding on the location is your first step to buying a new home. This is a big decision and likely the biggest purchase of your life so far. Don’t make a hasty or rushed decision. Take your time and decide where you want to live.

House Style

When buying your first home you should decide on the type of house you’d like to live in. Do you want small and cozy, or a large and spacious place where you can have gatherings for entertaining events and holidays. Decide on these things ahead of time; discuss them with others who own houses. Is a raised ranch what you like, where you walk out onto a balcony overlooking the yard, or is it more important to slide-open a door off the kitchen and step down off a deck to walk to a pool or gazebo? Do you have or plan to have a large family that would require more bedrooms or an addition.

Once again, purchasing your first home is a big decision. Be sure to give some thought to the style of the home you prefer.

Finances

Once you have considered the many advantages and options of buying your first home, you then need to decide how you want to pay for it. For most this will involve financing which can be quite a process itself.  You’ll need to look into the many aspects and particulars of seeking the lender, the loan percentages, the down payment, and especially closing costs which can be many and a large sum of money. There are different ways to buy, as well, such as with no money down, at auction, by owner, without a realtor, and it may depend on your credit. This is another area where you will want to do your homework well in advance. The pages of this site will help you in many ways. Take your time, and make a wise and comfortable decision when buying your first home.