Buying A Home September 30, 2013

Words of Advice for First Time Home Buyers

If you’ve been thinking about buying your first home, you may be experiencing a whole host of emotions.  Excitement, fear and confusion tend to top the list.  The process can admittedly be daunting, particularly for first time home buyers, but it’s important to keep things in perspective.  Step one – take a deep breath.  Step two – recognize that timing the market “just right” is almost impossible.  Let that go.  Trust that there will be a time that’s right for you to buy, which may or may not be the right time for someone else.  Just make sure the timing is right for you and the rest will fall into place.  Step three – recognize that buying a house (like most things in life) involves compromise.  Sometimes you have to compromise with the person you’re buying the house with.  Sometimes you have to compromise with yourself.  But something’s generally got to give, whether your price cap is $200,000 or $750,000.  The first home you buy may not have a water view, but it could have a great backyard or an awesome two car garage.  The goal of the exercise is to make sure the home has all of your “must haves” and as many of your “nice to haves” as you can afford.  Understanding the difference between a “must have” and a “nice to have” makes things a lot easier.  Step four – make sure you’re working with a realtor you trust.  If you trust your realtor, the fear and confusion will diminish, which leaves more room for the excitement.  Step five – enjoy the excitement.

-Mark Pinto of South Sound Property Group in Tacoma, WA has been successfully advising first time home buyers since 2003