How to buy a house!

Set up a Savings Account – you are an adult now, act like one! Make sure that you have money in the bank in a savings account. Drop in money with every paycheck – arrange to have it direct deposited or make sure that you deposit something when you cash your check. You owe it to yourself to set out on the right path. It can be whatever amount, you would like — just be consistent.

• Opening a credit card, becoming an authorized user and applying for a credit-builder loan are some ways to establish credit.
• 2.From there, building good credit relies on using credit responsibly by doing things like paying bills on time every month.
• 3. You’ll need at least one credit account open and reporting to at least one of the major credit bureaus for at least six months to generate a FICO® credit score. You can get a VantageScore® score as soon as the first time your new account gets reported to the credit reporting agencies.
• 4. Once you’ve established credit, monitoring your progress can help keep your credit building on track.

YouTube, TikTok, Instagram & Facebook (etc) are filled with people showing you how to fix things. Pay Attention. Walk thru a Home Depot/Lowe’s/HEP/Builder’s Choice or a RE-USE Center or any similar kind of store – Check out what they have and how much it costs.

How much does a toilet, gallon of paint, new cabinets, tile, flooring cost ?

A friend needs help painting a room – help them and learn how!

All of the time spent learning and understanding houses will come back to you and help you out!

Open Houses are open to the public, everyone welcome!

Go and educate yourself on what the housing market looks like – understanding what 100K, 200K, 300k and more can buy you is important for you when the time comes for you to put in an offer.

Knowledge of the value of the local market helps you confidently make an offer.

FYI – There maybe some Open Houses that require you to email for an appointment time – those aren’t 100% Open to the Public – those you will need to be a qualified buyer to go to.

The best time to buy a house is when you are ready to. The markets will have a say in this but you need to be ready. You can do this alone.

In 2020, 18% of all the houses sold were bought by single women. 9% were bought by single men.

You can buy a first house.

When your life changes and/or you are ready for your second house you can sell your first and move on. Or use the first house as an income property and rent it to help someone else find a home.

Traditionally in the Central New York Market, the push to sell a house and work around children’s school schedules and the weather create a Spring Market. Let’s be real no one wants to move in snow and you can’t do a dye test in the snow either. The Spring Market runs starting in about February through Summer. This is when the majority of houses are put on the market.

I should also point out that houses will come on the market through out the year. There’s people retiring, getting transferred, finally getting the house ready and all sorts of reasons to come on the market.

Again, the time to buy a house is when you are ready.

Now it’s also time to go to the bank!

It’s time to pick a bank to use to mortgage your new house. There’s lots of banks to chose from – if you did everything right you’ll be able to shop around and get the best deal for you and for the house.

There are many different kind so loans. Each bank has different loans (they call them “products”) that you may be eligible for – VA Loans, First Time Home Buyers, Fireman, Nurse, Teacher Loans and more.

A good place to start is where you are currently banking – ask them what they can do for you. Don’t stop there – if your credit is good and you have downpayment money you can shop your loan.

You need to compare loans and you’ll need to gather the information in a way to make it easy to compare. Ask your loan officer, “help me get an understanding of the costs of this loan – from the time I make application to the time I pay off this house what is it going to cost me?”

I am happy to give you recommendations about where to go. Please know that as Real Estate Agents we get no money form the bank for referring them.

At the same time you are looking for a bank it’s time to hire a Licensed, Full Time, Real Agent!

Now that you are ready it is time to contact us. We would be happy to help you!

Give us a call – we can make plans to set off on the Home Buying Journey. We will be able to explain the market, help you find houses, get inside the houses you are interested in and guide you through the process.

Now, there may be a couple of things that have changed for you –

You may be ready to buy a house in a different state – it can be scary being in a new place and not knowing who to trust with such a huge purchase. If you find yourself in a different state/area, we can help you find an agent through our referral network. You’ll have some one you know is accountable to us & we are also able to be sounding boards for you throughout the process.

Please know this is free to you and doesn’t cost you any more money.

You may also find yourself wanting to buy a Neighbor’s/Friend’s/Family’s property. You have identified the property and need some help with the process, the paperwork, and some guidance. We can also help you. We would negotiate a flat fee price for you to pay us to help guide you. This fee can be added to the closing costs.

We am happy to discuss all of this with you when the time comes.