Hitting the housing market for the first time can feel like an overwhelming experience. Between the high stakes and a large amount of money involved, along with complex and unfamiliar legal jargon, it is no walk in the park.
You can help yourself immensely by going into this experience already understanding some homebuying mistakes to avoid, though. But what are they?
Know what you can afford
Nerd Wallet discusses some of the biggest mistakes first-time homebuyers make. First, you should always figure out exactly how much house you can afford. You can set up price ranges, starting at what is affordable and moving on to things that might be a bit of a stretch. Make sure you get a house with a mortgage that you can pay comfortably.
Check your credit report
Next, be sure you check your credit report and correct any possible errors you find. When you get a mortgage, the lenders will scrutinize every bit of financial information, especially your credit report. They use this to approve loans and decide what interest rate you will have. Make sure your report accurately reflects your actions, or you could unfairly pay more than you should.
Get a mortgage first
Try not to shop for your house before you shop for your mortgage, speaking of. You need to get your finances in order first and figure out how much you can borrow. This will set your low and high price ranges so you will know for sure if you can afford to make a serious offer on the house of your dreams once you start looking at properties.
By following this advice, you can save yourself time, money and heartache and get on a faster track to finding the right home.