5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Buying A House
By Kelly Duncan
Three months ago I took a MAJOR step in my life: I bought and moved into my first house.
At first, the idea of living on my own was intimidating because I’m so close with my family and didn’t know what I would possibly do living by myself. On the flip side, I also realized that now was the perfect time for me to find a place of my own. After all, I had a steady job and I’d been saving money for the past two years.
Despite being somewhat prepared, I thought I’d share five things I wish I’d known before I bought my house – you know, just in case anyone reading this is thinking of buying their first home.
1. Know what you can afford. Going into buying a house I had no idea what I could actually afford. I knew for a fact that I couldn’t afford anything over $100,000, but that was about it. Thankfully I was fortunate to work with a wonderful group of people who helped me narrow down my price range so I wouldn’t put myself in debt.
2. The process to buying a house is a long one. I kind of already knew this, but I started the whole process right around Christmas 2019 (great timing, I know). Compared to other people I know who had to wait even longer before getting the keys to their house, I had it pretty easy. I definitely thought I would be waiting six months or more before I closed on my house, which really stressed me out.
3. The amount of information you have to provide is insane! Fortunately, I didn’t have any trouble getting information to my lender or real estate agent, but I cannot tell you how many documents they needed from me. On the bright side, this helps make the process go a lot smoother and can potentially speed up your closing date if everyone is on the same page.
4. Speaking of information, on closing day expect to sign a LOT of papers. I was pre-warned by many people that I would be signing a million papers on closing day and they weren’t lying. I can’t tell you how many times I signed my name, but I knew as I signed each paper I was one step closer to getting the keys to my house.
5. Buying appliances is expensive. Now that you’ve got the keys, it’s time to move in. But wait…You need appliances, too. Do you know what kind of refrigerator you want? Can you afford it? What about a washer and dryer? A microwave? For me personally, I enjoyed appliance shopping – I did not however enjoy looking at the price tags of these appliances. Again, refer back to Number 1 and know what you can and can’t afford.
I hope the home buying process goes smoothly for you like it did for me – if these tips helped you that’s even better! Enjoy taking this next step into adulthood! I know I’m enjoying it.