Categories: Business & Finance

4 Things To Know About Before You Buy A Home

April 12, 2016

Buying a house is a big decision, and an even bigger responsibility. To make sure that your homebuying experience is a success, it’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into well ahead of time. Here are a few important things to know and consider before you start the purchase process.

HUD Homebuyer Classes

The U.S. department of housing and urban development offers classes to prospective homebuyers in every county in the country. While most of these do cost a small fee, they serve to ensure that future homeowners are well prepared for all the financial hurdles that come with homeownership. People who take these kinds of classes are much less likely to run into serious debt and foreclosure issues than people who don’t. Taking these classes is also a requirement for a lot of mortgage grant and down payment assistance programs.

Mortgage Assistance Programs

First-Time home buyer Florida programs, VA grants, FHA loans, good neighbor programs and down payment assistance programs can be a huge help to you when you’re looking for a home. These types of programs can be used to defray the cost of your downpayment, reduce the total purchase price of a home, or reduce or eliminate your interest rate.

These programs serve a variety of different eligible people, for example first-time homebuyer programs usually help young families, VA grants serve veterans and military personnel, and many different ones serve low-income buyers.

Mortgage Grants Require you to Stay Put for Years

If you already know about and are looking for a first-time homebuyer program, it’s important to know that these kinds of programs usually come with some strings attached. For example, a grant might cover your down-payment entirely, but any home you buy will have to be your principal residence for a specific number of years before you can leave, or you’ll be forced to repay the grant.

Because of this it’s important to always carefully read the conditions of any grant you apply for, so that you’re well aware of what you’re getting yourself into.

You Can Walk Away At Any Point

An important thing to remember is that any home-purchase is a voluntary one. You might feel that because a seller or assistance program has already gone through quite a bit of trouble to make a purchase possible for you, you should go through with it, but that’s a bad idea.

If you have second thoughts half-way through the process, you shouldn’t hesitate to take a step back. Buying a home is a big decision, and one that you’ll need to live with for many years. Anything this personal needs to be treated with respect, and you shouldn’t allow anyone to bully you into going through with a transaction against your will.

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Shawn Peter

Shawn Peter is a former realtor turned grant writer who now works with MortgageGrants to help low-income and down payment assistance program get under their very own roof. Follow @mortgagegrants on Twitter to see what he has to say!

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