FIRST TIME HOME BUYER PLAYBOOK 5 Simple St eps t o Your First Front Door Key Welcome to the exciting world of homeownership! This guide is designed to remove the mystery from the home buying process. Take it one step at a time, and you will be unlocking your new front door before you know it. St ep 1: Check your Credit and Clean Up Mist akes Before you look at a single house online, you need to look at your credit score. Lenders use this score to decide if they will lend you money and what your interest rate will be. Action Item: Download a free credit tracking app. Pro Tip: Do not open any new credit cards or buy a car on credit while you are getting ready to buy a home! St ep 2: Save Your Cash (it ?s More Than Just a Down Payment ) You already know you need money for a down payment. However, many first-time buyers forget about closing costs. These are the fees for lenders, lawyers, taxes, and home inspectors. They usually cost an extra 2% to 5% of the home?s total price. Action Item: Set up a separate bank account just for your ?Home Fund? and automate a small transfer every payday.
Cat hy Vendit t i Global Real Estate Advisor 617-388-3801 Catherine.Venditti@Gibsonsir.com 54 Central Street Wellesley, MA 02482
FIRST TIME HOME BUYER PLAYBOOK
St ep 3: Get ?Pre-Approved? by a Lender A pre-approval letter is a document from a bank showing exactly how much money they promise to lend you. This proves to sellers that you are a serious buyer with real purchasing power. Without this letter, sellers will not accept your offers. Action item: Gather your last two years of tax returns and your recent pay stubs to show a local mortgage lender St ep 4 : Build Your St rat egy & St art House Hunt ing Now comes the fun part! Make a list of ?Must-Haves? (like the number of bedrooms or a specific neighborhood) and ?Nice-to-haves? (like a garage or a modern kitchen). Take notes and pictures during home tours so you do not confuse the properties later. Action item: Walk through neighborhoods at different times of day to see what traffic and noise levels are really like. St ep 5: Hire Your Real Est at e Part ner You do not have to do any of this alone. A specialized buyer?s agent guides you through home tours, writes up the legal paperwork, and negotiates the absolute best price for you. Best of all, using a buyer?s agent can be free for you as the buyer! Have questions about any of these steps, want to chat, or if you would just like to be included in my monthly email newsletter, please enter your name, and email address.Warm regards,
Cat hy Vendit t i Global Real Estate Advisor 617-388-3801 Catherine.Venditti@Gibsonsir.com 54 Central Street Wellesley, MA 02482