What a great time to be home buyer in the Twin Cities. As a buyer you are actually on the flip side of all the bad news you have been hearing about home prices and values. For you, it is actually good news that prices keep coming down. Obviously you want that trend to change once you become a home owner, but until then let ‘em drop should be your attitude.
You will find these prices have dropped on homes for sale from Elk River to homes for sale in Eden Prairie to homes for sale in Woodbury. You will find the biggest drops are in town homes and condos, because more people want to own a single family home. Unless you really want the kind of lifestyle a Twin Cities condo or town home gives you—maintenance free living—you should avoid buying these homes. Whether the condo is in Burnsville or Buffalo, selling the property in the future will be really tough. Buying a condo in Minneapolis or buying a condo in St. Paul is far less risky.
There is other good news for you if you’re looking to buy your first home in the Twin Cities. In general interest rates are really low, making homes even more affordable. Even though rates will be rising by the end of 2010 they will still be great mortgage deals compared to what you would normally see.
Can you get one of these special home loans and mortgages for first time home buyers?
Smart Start: There are four basic stages in the home buying process
- Look in the Mirror: Getting yourself ready to buy
- Pick a Pro: Picking your team of real estate pros to work with you along the way, specifically a real estate agent and a mortgage lender.
- Get the Facts: Getting your financing in order
- Shopping Time! Focus on finding the right home for you
1. Look in the Mirror
To get yourself ready to buy you should go through the 14 questions found in the article Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying Your First Home. Also, if you’re honest with yourself, you are probably like most first time home buyers and don’t have any idea about how the whole buying process works. Learn the basics by reading The Basic Home Buying Process.
You should also read the article 7 Steps to Smart Home Buying. It is based on the Twin Cities first time home buyer classes I have taught the past 15 years.
2. Pick a Pro:
You are going to need both a professional real estate agent and mortgage loan officer to make everything come together smoothly during your buying experience. Read these articles to help you make the right choices when you hire them:
- Should You Have Your Own Realtor When Buying a Home?
- How Do You Pick a Realtor to Help You Buy?
- What to Expect from a Mortgage Lender
- How do You Pick a Mortgage Company? 11 Questions to Ask a Lender
3. Get the Facts: Get Your Financing in Place.
You want to get this step as quickly as possible so you don’t waste your time looking at homes in the wrong price range. It can be very disappointing to learn you should be looking at homes around $175,000 if you’ve spent weeks looking at homes around $225,000. In fact, it can ruin your whole home buying experience. Get your correct price range dialed in right away.
Start by reading this article to help you understand what mortgage companies look at when deciding about your loan approval: 5 Keys to Mortgage Loan Approval.
You want to make sure you look into the special first time home buyer loans in the Twin Cities to see if you are eligible for any of them. They usually have lower interest rates and some even offer down payment assistance.
Now you need to actually start the pre-approval process. Go to Alec Grebis’ secure web site to complete your pre-approval form. Your situation will be reviewed and if you are eligible for one of those special first time home buyer loans you will be given info too.
Complete your pre-approval form now
4. Shopping Time! Focus on finding the right home for you. Now that your financing is in place you know the right price range to be in when looking at homes. So, it’s time to move beyond looking at homes online to actually getting out with your personal real estate agent. Plan on having to go and look a number of times. It’s pretty rare you find the right home the first day. Until you have the perspective of having seen a number of homes, you probably don’t even know what the “right home” looks like anyway–or at least you won’t know what’s the right price to offer until you have seen a number of homes.
Do you have questions about buying your first home? Here’s your chance to ask the experts
