Buying Your First Place: Where Do You Start? Part 1 Of A Series

Buying Your First Place: Where Do You Start?

With the deadline quickly approaching for first time buyers to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit, a lot of people are wondering what to do first.

Surveys of recent buyers show that most of them begin by turning on their computer to see what’s out there. But not so fast!

Your Mac or PC is going to play a crucial part in your search for a house or condo, but all of your messing around online is not very productive until you answer one huge question:

And how much can I afford to spend? Oh, and this assumes that you are credit worthy.

While there are a lot of people who will play a crucial part in your search, the two most important are your Realtor® and the loan officer who shepherds your loan through the lenders wads of red tape. And the Internet may not be the best place to find either of these.

I am, of course, biased. I think you should start off finding a good agent, and we'll talk about how to find a great one in the next installment.

A good agent will begin the relationship by helping you get pre-approved for a mortgage. I give my new clients three names of loan officers I know are terrific. It is not easy for a lender to make it onto my list, and it's very easy to be removed from it. I know that whichever of these people my buyer chooses will do a great job.

And in a very short time, you will know how much the bank will lend you, how much you will feel comfortable borrowing (usually less than the bank's number) and any steps you might be able to take to goose up your credit score.

When you start to look at houses or condos before you have a price range established, you can set yourself up for disappointment and delays. The time to find out that your maximum price is $300,000 is not when you are about to make an offer on a $500,000 house.

The very foundation of your search is loan preapproval. Then you'll be able to begin to discover the options that are available to you.

Next: Part 2: Finding the Right Realtor®

For more information about buying or selling a home, contact Patricia Kennedy. Call me (202 549-5167) or email me (housepat@mac.com) and I'll start you off with the electronic version of my book, The Irreverent Guide To Real Estate.