10 First Time Home Buyer Tips For Houston Residents

Share this:

As a Houston Resident, here are 10 First Time Home Buyer Tips to consider:

#1 First Time Home Buyer Tips: Get the Facts 

There is only one advocate for your family in the housing search, and that is you! So to start off the list of first time home buyer tips: getting the facts to protect your family and your financial future from negligence, malice, or just downright incompetence on the part of others, you should be well versed in your financial history.

As a Houston first time home buyer, a good place to start is with your credit score. First of all, do not let bad or mediocre credit dissuade you from your housing search. Many programs aimed at people with credit from all over the spectrum that help all families afford housing.

couple holding up a set of house keys - FHA Loan

Hand of young man showing keys from new flat

Your credit score will determine the terms for any loans relevant financial institutions offer you. It will also inform lenders as to how high your interest rate will be. Most importantly, however, your credit score impacts the down payment you will be asked to put down on the home. Keep reading to discover more first time home buyer tips.

Be Straight Forward With The Lending Officer

If you have a troubled financial past, you should be upfront with the lending officer and other interested parties about your history. You should also bring plenty of evidence supporting your rehabilitated finances or proof of any financial remediation you pursued.

Certain restrictions apply to house hunters with bankruptcies in their recent past, but this should be no problem if you are adhering to a financial rehabilitation program endorsed by the courts or if you are straightforward with your lending institution.

FHA Loans Are Designed For A First Time Home Buyer 

A first-time homeowner with shaky credit ought to look into an FHA loan. FHA loans are designed to help first time home buyers afford mortgages without defaulting on their homes.

While the program started in the 1930s to help support Americans through the depression era, today, FHA (or Federal Housing Administration) loans are the backbone of the American economy. FHA loans help buyers who might otherwise be inhibited from buying homes due to shaky credit or ineligibility for other programs.

While FHA loans certainly target low-income groups and people with bad credit, homebuyers of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to apply if they meet the requirements. To qualify, you still must have proof that you can meet your minimum monthly payments.

Homeowners are still required to put down a down payment when enlisting an FHA loan for help.

Build a Home From The Ground Upstacking wood blocks to represent the buildup to home ownership

Some buyers might want to consider building a home from the ground up rather than buying a prebuilt home or renovating. Building a custom home is certainly costly. However, you must consider that you can customize every room down to the door hinge if that’s the route you choose to take.

The good news? Federal Housing Administration loans of some types are eligible to be applied for ground up construction projects. Rejoice!

Flip It

When choosing a fixer-upper that you plan to live in, you need a strong vision. Sometimes, however, seeing is not always believing. It is easy for first time buyers to bite off more than they can chew if they decide to renovate a fixer-upper rather than buy new or completed.

Just know that most renovation projects only turn out to be profitable in the long term if the owners participate and offset labor costs. Don’t try to fix a house, if you don’t know what your doing.

Plan to Renovate for YOU

Out of all of the first time home buyer tips, I think the most unfortunate truth is that most renovations your home receives will not increase the value of your home. This is true if you are in a down market. Still, only moderate kitchen renovations and bathrooms seem to increase the dollar signs attached to renovation projects beyond a negligible amount.

Aside from kitchens and bathrooms, small, quality of life renovations increases value by a lot. That said, they are also the least likely to be noticed.

But if you are redesigning a space in the hopes that it will just be a more fulfilling center for yourself to spend time in, proceed and renovate to your heart’s content! Remember, your home is not just a gallery for your places.

Consolidate and Stay Organized

It can be tempting to pinch pennies by choosing various institutions, plans, and advisors that are more cost-effective than the last. Whatever you save in dollars, you might lose through convenience. People begin to rush, and stuff gets messy. Bills start to slip through the cracks, etc.

So keeping all of your communication between contractors, subcontractors, family members, etc., is a great way to stay organized. That way, when you are looking for something later, it intuitively rises to the top.

DIY As Much as Possible9 Best Resources for First Time Home Buyers - family with their dog sheltering under a roof to illustrate home concept

As previously stated, renovations yield the most returns when owners take the plunge into the world of do-it-yourself crafting. A few obvious problems arise from this strategy. For starters, most two-family units are not half made up of carpenters or millworkers, so this can get dicey.

Take your time, listen to directions, and breathe!

Certain Loans Will Follow You

Some loans, FHA chief among them, require certain things of their borrowers after or near the distributed funds. For example, certain loans include stipulations over the type of outward appearance for your home.

Home Owners Associations Can Be Demanding

Homeowners associations are often associated with less-than-stellar tales of homeowner woe. Still, the truth is that homeowners associations (or HOAs) serve a very important function in maintaining a given neighborhood’s integrity and property values. However, some are more demanding than others. If possible, poll your potential neighbors for clues.

Get Professional Assistance For Your First Home Financing

Do you have questions not answered in this blog and need more first time home buyers tips? Contact Rock Mortgage today. If you’re ready to apply for a home mortgage, you can do so online.

We knowhow stressful the home buying process can be, so our goal is to make the mortgage process as easy as possible. Contact us today!

First Time Home Buyers Houston

10 First Time Home Buyer Tips For Houston Residents | Rock Mortgage — Houston, Texas

Mike Ogg

Mike Ogg

Mike’s been in consumer lending 33 years and has spent the last 21 years in the mortgage business working for larger mortgage lenders. In 2013 he met Eduardo Adame and together they started Rock Mortgage with one processor and a dream to build the best MORTGAGE COMPANY IN HOUSTON. With a total staff of 10, Rock Mortgage is well on their way to becoming the boutique mortgage company that Mike & Ed dreamed of.
en_USEN