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The very frst step is to figure out what you can afford, and you will most likely need to create a budget to get an accurate assessment of what that it is. I use a spread sheet with formulas, but I used to use a notebook... but I lost it all the time and the Mr. would always have to find it! Oops! I would be happy to share a copy of my budget format if someone can tell me how to put it on here!
One tip I cannot stress enough:
What you can afford does NOT equal what you will get approved for!
Lenders look at gross income (before taxes are taken out) and debt, student loans, cars, credit cards, etc. They do NOT look at your luxury spending such as groceries, fuel, heat! Which unfortuantely means you will have to be a grown up and restrain yourself, because a realtor will be more than happy to sell you a home you can't afford. The Mr and I look at pricier homes and say "we could buy that house... or we could go on vacation a few times a year or go on fun dates" we don't want to be struggling to make a house payment. Our lender asked us our price range and approved us for that but the Mr spoke to one lender one the phone and they gave us an estimate of what we would get approved for that made both of us say "something exasperative and explicit".
When buying a house as a couple both your credit scores will play a factor and it's not bad to look into what your debt:income ratio is, there are many online calculators. Make sure your taxes from the last 2 years are in order, we ran into a bump with our first house and after several trips to the IRS office and the accountant's we were able to sort it out, but it was so not worth the stress. Needless to say we don't do our own taxes anymore!
Get an agent you know, this is one of those places you want to take your mom up on the always "Oh I have a friend..." you need this person to have your best interest in mind. We really feel our first agent was only out for himself but it was our first home so we didn't even realize that until we had to sell our house. Our agent works with a large firm that does a lot of investing so at first I was apprehensive, but he has already pointed out some great things we wouldn't have thought about because he looks at home appreciation, after our last house we definitely want this house to appreciate in value!
Get an idea of what you want, what both of you want. We have tried several times to make a hard list but there are just too many factors! Close to work... unless it has everything else we want, 4 bedrooms...unless it has a bonus room, and the list of "unless's" goes on and on.
Take your family's advice into account... sort of... my dad is big DYI farm boy so when it somes to "how easy could we fix this, etc" he is my go to guy! However keep in mind they will shove advice on you whether they know what they are talking about or not, so if you don't think they REALLY have an answer, maybe just skip it. Also keep in mind things like will your family be there all the time, if yes it may be important to you that they are comfortable, if not then get what you and your spouse want for your family.
Lastly on a totally unrelated topic, there has been major snow in KC and I worked from home today so I thought I would share two lovely photos.
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Hanky frolicking in the snow
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Have a great weekend!
