This post is especially relevant since I went house hunting last year and bought my first home. My wife and I were so excited but quickly realized we didn’t know nearly as much as we thought we did going into this. We were half expecting realtors to follow HGTV and only show us 3 houses to choose from.
There was no Chip and Joanne waiting to renovate our home for us with a big reveal. It was more of a here it is and let me know if you like it. Either you take something that is okay and doesn’t quite check all the boxes or wait a year for a new home to be built.
Competition is rough right now and houses we thought there may be potential are getting scooped up within weeks. It’s been a bit intimidating, but we’re remaining optimistic.
I’ve rounded up some of the things I didn’t know going into this and hope you find it helpful going into your first house.
Don’t let emotions take control
This is a big one. My wife and I had a plan. Wait until end of October when our debt was settled, our credit scores were polished, and our savings account was looking sexy. We were restraining ourselves until everything would be in our ball court. If we found the house, we wanted we’d be in the position to say, “I’ll take it today.”
But life doesn’t work that way. Last month we found our dream home. It was perfect and checked all of our boxes. It wasn’t yet on the market and our realtor was a friend with the listing agent. We were ahead of the crowd and we wanted this house bad.
However, it was going on the market soon, which meant it would be sold within days. It was that good of a house. So naturally my wife and I did the mature and responsible thing. We took a deep breath and waited.
Just kidding. We panicked, started the process with a loan officer, started selling everything to get more money for a down payment (since we were a month too early), and held our breath hoping we wouldn’t be too late. Turns out the seller decided he wasn’t ready and didn’t want to sell anymore.
All that stress and anxiety was for nothing. We did exactly what we said we wouldn’t do and went from 0 to 100 in a span of seconds hoping to get this house. We’re doing better now and more in control of our emotions around houses. So now we were here and ready to buy the next dream home that pops up.
Moral of the story don’t let emotions control you. There will always be another house. Trust me.
The Process Can Take Forever
From waiting for our next dream home to pop up to going into closing and all the steps involved in that, buying a house is a long process. It’s not just saying I’ll take this one and you automatically flash forward 6 months to show viewers your life in the new home.
It’s a long stretch of waiting, cursing, running, stopping then a whole lot of nothing. It’s going to test your patience going through this process, but I’m excited to get to the other side in a new home. We signed the contract last October and move in May.
Your Credit Score Matters
You need a decent credit score to buy a house. We all know that. What your score is determines the interest rates lenders will offer you. Some may not even talk to you if your score is too low.
During this pandemic, the minimum credit score went up, making it even harder to get a mortgage. Thankfully my wife and I have been crushing it in that department, lowering our debt utilization to record lows I haven’t seen since I started opening up a credit card account.
But it takes more than just getting that great credit score. You need to maintain it until the loan goes through. I’ve heard horror stories of someone who put an offer on a house, then got a car loan in the middle of this. That hard credit check affected his credit score and the mortgage lender immediately turned him down. So, he lost the house in the end over a car.
Don’t make any big purchases during this process. Get all your matters settled before jumping into this process.
The House Won’t Be Perfect Even If It’s New
Many people opt for the new build instead of an older one, thinking new means everything works and is in perfect condition. You don’t need to worry about faulty foundation or a new HVAC. Or any of those other common issues found on HGTV.
But that’s not necessarily true. There have been cases where the builder does sloppy work and needs to come back repeatedly to fix mistakes. One build my wife and I were looking into had negative reviews regarding their quality.
Promises made were not fulfilled and once the papers were signed, it was nearly impossible to get them to fix any issues they had. My wife and I quickly walked away from that.
Finding the right mortgage lender is like speed dating
I never realized there would be so many options for a mortgage lender. In fact, I never considered a loan officer in this process. I knew we had to get a realtor, but was clueless about what happened after that, besides saying, “We choose house #2.”
My wife and I looked into what loan officer may be best for us and narrowed it down to 3. It really felt like a game show, with each loan officer telling me about himself or herself and selling themselves and their talents. It was actually a bit intimidating. I’ve had a few others repeatedly call me twice a day for weeks now despite telling them I’ve chosen someone else.
That relentless behavior is a real turn off for me. I appreciate the hustle they’re doing, but please leave me alone. It’s not you it’s me.
There are more costs than just the down payment
When you buy a house, you immediately think of the down payment. You put down that chunk of money, sign the papers and then get the key to your new home. It never occurred to me there were so many other expenses related to this process.
You have closing costs, fees and other price tags involved before you even get the keys. Don’t get me started on the HOAs, maintenance costs, insurance and taxes involved after that.
But if you are prepared for these costs, it’s not as intimidating.
It’s really easy to get caught up on small issues
Watching HGTV, I’ve always hated that couple that see a wall painted a color they didn’t like so they would immediately reject the house. I remember thinking just paint it! Never understood those crazy people, until I realized I’m crazy too.
We tell ourselves to try to look past the bad decorating and weird paint colors to get a better feel for the house. But immediately walking in there, your eyes only focus on the negatives. Trash may be in the corner, a mark on the wall or furniture that is butt ugly.
It takes another visit or two to look past all that to see the potential of a new home. Have patience and don’t walk away on the first trip. Unless it’s just not the one and is the weakest link.
You’ll change your mind
My wife and I went into this with a list of wants for our first home. We wanted a nice kitchen, space to work from, a pool and many more. But the further we got into this process, the more we were able to take off the list or even add on.
Some things we were hung up on, we realized we don’t even want anymore. Some features we found in some other homes inspired us to want it in our home too. It’s a constant game of changing our mind and finding something that best checks all those boxes.
We are prepared to make sacrifices on that list though. So, we were able to break down our list of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and definitely-nots.
Your home inspection won’t be perfect
You need to be prepared to have something negative found during the home inspection. We’re not at that step, but from what everyone is telling us, there will be something wrong.
There are never perfect marks given. However, that news could be something trivial or something devastating. You may have been an A student but be prepared for something closer to a B at most.
You don’t need a house to be considered an adult
Many people see their life in the form of milestones. At this age you go to college. At that age you get married. And at that age you buy a first home. There’s a roadmap already laid out for people apparently.
But those rules don’t apply as much anymore. I’ve found Millennials are buying homes much later in their life now. All normal milestones are out the window. They follow their own rules now.
My wife and I understand we don’t need a house to feel like adults or to officially start a new chapter in our life. It’s more of a necessity. Our apartment is too small to handle our day to day living, let alone running a business together. It’s gotten past the point of making it work.
We need a house to continue building the business and have enough room to start a family.
Final Thoughts
Buying your first home is a stressful and confusing process. Don’t forget to enjoy the journey of this. It’s the only time you’ll ever be buying a first home.
