Purchasing a home

Hi ladies. This is my first post on lifamilies. I look forward to chatting with you. My husband and I are interested in purchasing a house. What are the first steps we should take?

Re: Purchasing a home

The first thing I would do is to get pre qualified for a mortgage so you know the price range you will be looking in. From there check out MLS to Redfin and see what is available in the area you like. Some people work with a buyers agent, a person who sells in the area you are looking for , I did not . Good luck!

Message edited 7/2/2013 9:55:45 AM.

Purchasing a home

First you have to get prequalified. You can get prequalified by any bank. And beware of anyone who just asks your basic income information and gives you a prequal of $600k in less than 30 minutes. A true prequal should involve you sending documentation to the lender. The guy I used at Wells Fargo had my prequal the next day.

Then you should figure out what areas you want to look at and what price range you’re comfortable with. Then I highly suggest using a buyers agent. I used Beth Lowe from Exit (she’s on here) and she was phenomenal to work with.

I’m happy to recommend my mortgage guy if you want. Just PM me. He’s amazing and we went from contract signing to closing in less than 30 days when everyone else told me theirs took 60.

Purchasing a home

Welcome! DH and I just moved in our first house in Farmingdale. I agree with everyone -- pre-qualification is an absolute must. I cannot more highly recommend our mortgage broker/company -- Chris Gonzalez and his staff at Bank Academy Mortgage Corp. He is located in Bellmore on Bedford Avenue by the LIRR. DH and I didn't have the standard down payment $$ and opted for a FHA loan with 3.5% down. They guided us through the whole process and were SO knowledgeable! FM if you have any questions!

Re: Purchasing a home

Congratulations on being ready to purchase a home! It's an exciting time. And it should be a fun process, at least in my book. If you do the preparation upfront and get all of your ducks lined up, so to speak, it will remove a lot of the stress and anxiety for you.

I agree that getting the finance piece sorted out is step one. You will need a preapproval, and a good mortgage loan officer can help you figure out what type of loan is best for you, what you should plan on for down payment/closing costs, what you can expect your monthly payment to be at different price points, and just explain the key aspects of the mortgage process. There is no downside to getting all of this sorted out now, only upside. Knowledge is power for you as a buyer! I agree with a PP that Chris Gonzaelz with Academy Mortgage is great to work with, and there are others I recommend, too. So let me know if you need some info on good mortgage lenders/loan officers in the area.

I also think it would benefit you to speak to a real estate agent. I like to do a "buyer's consultation" with potential buyer clients to explain the process (what they can expect when house hunting, what the buying process entails once they find "the one," etc), talk a bit about me and how I work, find out a bit more about what they are looking for (house criteria, area, timeline) and how they will finance their purchase, and just answer questions. I am very low-key and there is no pressure -- my background is as an attorney and I have more of a consultative approach to real estate than a "sales" approach, if that makes sense. I work with a lot of first-time buyers, and I find taking time to do a consultation and discuss key aspects of the purchase is really important, esp. with a buyer who hasn't gone through it before.

Please let me know if I can help, or even if I can just answer some questions you have about the buying process. I am based in N. Bellmore, but I work all over Long Island, and I have successfully helped many LIF members find homes!

You can always FM me, or you can get me directly at [email protected] or (516) 587-7618. Good luck with your search!

Purchasing a home

Definitely get preapproved for a mortgage! We used Kevin Kennedy at Academy Mortgage in Farmindale and he was very helpful! I had a preapproval within a half hour of calling him :)

I would also start researching lawyers and real estate agents. We actually didn't use our own broker when we bought our house, but ours was a reconstruct and we were dealing with the builder, who wasn't budging too much on price. Most of our negotiations went through our lawyers. You want a broker who will hand pick listings for you, based on what you are looking for, and one who will take initiative and show you something you may have overlooked if it was just you looking.

HTH, and happy hunting!

Re: Purchasing a home

Purchasing a home

Thank you, ladies.

Re: Purchasing a home

Def get pre-qualified...

We used this bank for our mortgage, got .375 lower than the average rate, and we were able to get $8500 back at closing...
We thought we were lucky, but a friend of ours used them as well, and they got the same rate discount and a rebate.


First IB of Indiana

Also, know what areas you like and don't like, research the schools if that is a major factor, and find a dedicated agent, not 5 so that you have a whole bunch of different people running around for you.
Look up properties on line, redfin, mlsli.com, etc., and have them for the agent, but don't shy away from their suggestions. You can never tell if it is a great home from suggest on line pics.

And even though it costs money, always always always get a home inspection. $400-500 can save you a lot of hassle in the end, but also any problems they discover can help you negotiate in the asking price!