Getting Ready To Buy A Home
What are some suggested steps to getting ready to buy a home? I plan to start looking at the end of the year and I'm currently making sure I'm on top of all my bills, credit card payments, saving what I can and trying to pay off some medical bills as I can. What else can I do? Are there other things to do to prepare yourself, credit score, anything? I'll be a first time home buyer which will help but would love any other pointers I can get.
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Official comment
Hi Em,
What a great goal! First-time home buying can be an extremely exciting experience - even if sometimes a little daunting. But we have lots of information for you to help you through preparing your credit, choosing what to look for in a home, all the way down to making the purchase! Here are some resources to get you started.
And feel free to reach out to support@nerdwallet.com if you have any questions along the way!
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Financially you are on the right track, a little debt wont hurt you as long as your scores are good. They pull all 3 credit scores and use the middle one. so it's easy enough to just focus on 2.
other than managing your scores, finances and saving up your 7-10% for down payment and closing. You should get on a site like Redfin and watch the market. look for houses you like, pretend you are buying. save your favorites and make notes. it's great practice, i have been doing it for a year myself.watch for the following:
How long are houses listed before taking an offer? right now by me it is less than 7 days.
Are they finally selling over/under asking price? right now by me it is $11k-25k over asking.
what neighborhoods are good value? 5 miles can make a HUGE difference is sale price. look at the $ per SqFt. Look at areas where houses are selling under asking price, this can indicate poor build quality or common problems like dampness or people who just don't take care of their stuff.
eyes on the prize! best of luck to you.
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