Buying Your First Home? Real Estate Agents Are Your Professional Guides. Make Sure You Choose Top Experts! 

You might be a bit afraid or intimidated by the whole process of buying your first home. As top Portland Tri-Counties real estate experts, it's our job to guide you, from beginning to end. Best of all, we're free! The seller of the house you purchase,pays for buyer's agents! You would never go to court without an attorney, dont' buy a home without a realtor! 

We will take the time to go through each and every step of the buying process. There are no dumb questions! 

- Start with the basics:  

How much can you really afford?  

Several of you are paying X dollars per month for rent right now, and don't want to stretch much more above this, stick with what you know you can do or close to it! Remember this is your first home,it might not be your DREAM home but it's a start and soon you will have enough equity to move up into a bigger home to get to your dream home! 

If you’re determined to be truly conservative, don’t spend more than about 35 percent of your pretax income on mortgage, property tax and home insurance payments. Most lenders adhere to the guidelines that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set, will let your total debt (including student and other loans) hit 45 percent of your pretax income, but no more.  

Buy vs. Rent  

View Mortgage & Budget Calculators 

What expenses should I plan for? 

If your used to living in an apartment often your water, sewer, garabage and sometimes internet and cable are provided in your rent and you don't have to think about repairs, you just call the landlord.
If you purchase a condo, or a townhome with Home Owners Association Fees there is a good chance the monthly fees will cover these utilities and exterior repairs.It's a good idea to find out what the HOA covers and read the last years worth of meeting minutes from the association to insure you know what has been updated recently and what is included in the dues. Often if you buy an older condo or townhome and the HOA commitee estimated the costs of repairs 30 years ago and it's time for a new roof on the whole building, you could be paying what is called a SPECIAL ASSESMENT to make up for the difference. The hoa will divide the shortage by all the homeowners and give you a time frame to pay the shortage.
If you purchase a single family house (which in many cases could be the same price as a condo or townhome once you include your monthly hoa fee into the pament that you more than likely won't have on a house)
Your paying for the utilities and matinance YOURSELF. It's a good idea to call the utility companies on a home your interested in and ask what the bills were for the summer and winter on the particular home of interest so you have an idea of these costs and can budget accordingly. Always have a home inspection so you are aware of repairs that will need to occur in the next few years and have the seller fix any immediate repairs needed before you buy.  

Map out your exspenses- 

Although it has been estimated that owners of a home that do some work for themselves but contract major work out to others will pay 3.6 percent of the original purchase price annually for maintenance and 4.5 percent if it’s an older home. So if you own a $400,000 home, your costs will probably hit the five figures each year — and may rise with inflation. These expenses will be another 20 percent or so higher if you live in a severe weather area. However,  the tax benefits of home ownership can offset half or more of these costs in some areas of the country.  

What loan programs are there? 

There's several loan programs available, to name a few there is programs available through Key Bank, Big River Mortgage and Onpoint Credit Union, that offer first time home buyers (A buyer who hasn't owned a home or a mortgage in the last 3 years) 100% financing which means NO MONEY DOWN! These loans have no mortgage insurance.

To learn more about NO MONEY DOWN LOANS view:
Information on 100% Financing    

There is FHA loans where you put 3.5 % down, and there is mortgage insurace associated with this loan. It's through the Federal Housing Association and a government backed loan.  

There is conventional loans where you put 20% down....this is the ideal scenrio for a buyer and where you will get the best interest rates and be considered a prime buyer. You will have less of a chance of owing more than your home is worth if prices fall again.  

To learn more about FHA & Conventional Loans

How much cash should I put down? 

Putting more money down now can save you triple in the long run on interest alone and reduce your payment!
Other options are putting down some money on your home and investing the other money you don't put down in a CD, or IRA.  

Loans usually work in 3.5,10 & 20% down. Say you have 20k which is 10% of a 200k loan and you have 30k saved up. Putting 30k down might not change your payment or interest rate because the loan only calls for 20k down, so if you put 20k down and invest the other 10k your having your money work for you. 

Get a fixed-rate mortgage, so the biggest part of your monthly housing bill remains stable.
That said, if you end up with an adjustable-rate loan, banks may not be concerned with whether you’ll be able to afford the maximum possible payment when the interest rate adjusts in five or seven years. But YOU should be worried about it, don't just get an adjustable rate mortgage thinking that will get you into the house and you will be making more money in the future or re-finance or move, no one can really plan the future, so if you can barely afford the payment with an adjustable rate you might consider looking in a lower price range, because chances are you probably shouldn't be looking that high of a range. 

Learn more about Fixed Rate vs Adjustable Rate Mortgages

- How to qualify for a mortgage? 

Once you have determined the amount of money you have, to put down on a mortgage, the loan program you want, and the monthly payment you can afford, I have a mortgage broker I can highly recommend. Every buyer has a different scenerio and is in a different position in their life with different financial goals, work with a loan officer that understands you and your goals and that will explain the loan programs that pertain to you, down payments and areas to you, so you can choose the loan that best fits your life for your short term and long term goals. 

To get more information on my preffered proffesional mortgage broker view:
Get Pre-Qualified

- The tax advantages of buying. 

Your interest on your home (including closing costs when you first purchase) is a write off every year on your taxes dollar for dollar. 

New to the home buying process? Tell us your concerns. Ask us questions. It's our job to help! There's no obligation, and we promise to get back to you quickly... 

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