We bought our first home in San Diego! Closing escrow felt like a ginormous miracle. When house prices surged last summer and continued to set records, buying a home felt like an impossible dream. Everyone told us to wait due to historically low inventory and crazy high prices. But we decided to keep a close eye on the market and after a wild journey, we now we now have a place we can call our very own!
If you’re looking to start your first-time home-buying journey, keep reading for some helpful tips I learned along the way.
First-Time Buyer Tips:
- Get a Mortgage Preapproval so you know exactly how much loan money you can get.
- Find an amazing Lender. Ask friends for referrals or read online reviews. If you’re in SoCal, I recommend our Lender Jennifer Chang at LoanLock. She was aaahh-mazing, so professional, and made our experience as seamless as possible.
- Start learning. Use sites like Realtor and Zillow to research the area where you’re looking to buy. Also look at recently sold houses to see how much over the listing price they were bought for. Make sure to also pay attention to factors like crime rates, noise level, flooding, etc.
- Go to open houses. Even if you’re not serious about buying yet, it’s a great way to learn more about what your needs, non-negotiables, and nice-to-haves are. It’s also a great way to get a feel for the neighborhood.
- Work with Real Estate Agent. They’ll show you properties that fit your budget and needs, attend showings with you, and help you though every step of the home-buying process. I highly recommend our Agent Karen Almquist at Century 21 Award.
- Check often for new listings or sign up for notifications. I would get notifications from Realtor.com every time a new listing within my budget and area was added. If it’s a hot house, you have to be fast otherwise you may miss the window of time the seller accepts offers.
- Be prepared for closing costs ($$$). This includes pest inspection fees, appraisal fees, escrow fees, title change fees, etc.
