Mobile devices have become indispensable for first time home buyers. They can search for homes, find open houses, and check out virtual tours. Mobile devices allow first time home buyers to do virtually everything their home computer does. But at what price? This video shares How carriers gather, track and sell your private data Network from Michael Rigley on Vimeo.
So, we get to pay them each month to have our personal data harvested? Hmmm!
First time home buyers in Riverside, CA entering today’s housing market are considered by many to be the best educated first time home buyers in history. The internet has given them access to more information than any generation of first time home buyers.
Unfortunately today’s Riverside first time home buyers may also be the most “mis-educated” first time home buyers in history. According to Thefreedictionary.com: mis-educate means to educate improperly.
Maybe a better definition would be to educate with misinformation?
“It must be true, I read it on the internet”, is intended to be a tongue in cheek statement but when that information agrees with something you’ve already been told, especially from friends and family members, it tends to become true in your mind and may be creating unrealistic expectations for you or mis-education.
Working with home buyers, especially first time home buyers, in today’s market is making “lifelong learners” out of us whether we like it or not. Makes me feel like I should have served in the Navy. They understand that “It’s not just a job it’s an adventure”
Loan guidelines change more often than many people change their socks and as a result, something that may have worked a month ago doesn’t anymore.
When we’re all learning on the fly, there’s going to be some turbulence and we have to learn from it, so we can avoid it the next time around.
In our market (The IE) we generally don’t give much thought to monthly HOA fees, because unless it’s a condo, the HOA fees are usually $60-$100 a month. In the context of a home buyer budget, property taxes have a bigger impact and as a result we’ve become very accutely aware of them.
How much impact do HOA fees have on qualifying?
There’s a rule of thumb I share with clients, Every thousand dollars you borrow changes your payment about $5/mo.
Home buyers first timers especially find this an easy concept to grasp and I'd like to think it keeps them from overreaching (of course that's probably just me self-medicating)
The reverse is also true, every $5 amonth is the equivalent of $1000 in sales price and this is where HOA fees can be a problem. A $90/mo HOA fee is the equivalent of adding $18,000 in sales price.
If you had an approval letter at say, $170,000 would you show homes at $188,000?
Hopefully not!
The lesson is to apply the same due diligence to HOA fees that you do to property taxes. The easiest obstacles to overcome are the ones you identify in the beginning, rather than when you’re waiting for loan docs.
If your Riverside first time home buyer resolution for 2012 is to become a first time home owner in Riverside, then it's important to realize an important fact: Buying your first home in Riverside is a "road trip" not an event.
On this road trip you're going places you've never been before and Google Maps can't help you get there.
There are hundreds, maybe thousands of real estate websites that will tell you the first step on the path to homeownership is to contact a real estate agent or get pre-qualified for your first time home buyer loan.
Good advice, but it's like starting on your road trip about one-third of the way through and you may not even be sure why you're there, whether or not your car will make it, or what your final destination really looks like.
If you're looking for help to map out your road trip, contact us.
We've helped thousands of first time home buyers and their families reach the destination that was right for them
Buying your first home in today's Riverside real estate market, can be confusing and frustrating.
There's so much information and misinformation for Riverside first time home buyers to sort through that it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction.
When you've made the commitment that 2012 will be the year you decide that your investment in Riverside real estate will be for you and not your landlord the next step is to determine how you're going to pay for your first home.
The media and other so-called "experts" would have you believe that all you have to do to get your first time home buyer loan is pick up the phone and call around for the lowest rate.
Getting the lowest rate is more fiction than fact for most first time home buyers.
So, if youre a first time home buyer shopping for loans based on rate, chances are you'll be making a decision based on incomplete information, which can be a "train wreck waiting to happen"
In other words, be a Smart Shopper
For more information about first time home buyer programs, click here
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