Many people do not really know the best way in which to purchase a home and in many cases go about it backwards. This can and does cause headaches down the road. This step-by-step process should help you buy the home of your dreams in San Diego and ensure that you can keep your home, if you follow the guide.

1. Sit down and go over your financial situation. Do not just over it in your head and say okay, let’s go buy a home. You should make a list of all money coming into the household and going out for an entire year. The reason for this is that some months you may have more out-going than other months such as car insurance that may only be paid every three months. Once you have your list, you can tally up how much you can afford to pay monthly for your new home loan.

2. Apply for a pre-qualifying mortgage. Visit a mortgage company or your bank and apply for a home loan. Explain that you desire to have a pre-qualifying letter to know how much money you can receive to purchase a home. You will have to give them some idea of how much you would like to receive that is within your budget. In some cases, mortgage companies may qualify you for more than what you can really afford. You need to stick to your guns or you will be in trouble farther down the road in making your payments. If you get behind in payments, foreclosure is just around the corner.

3. With your pre-qualification letter in hand, you will now know what price range you can afford for your new or existing home. Now, you can go shopping.

4. Choose an area of San Diego that you would like to call home. Look for a neighborhood that is pleasing, one close to schools, one that has a fast route to work, or other specifications that you desire for the perfect location. Next, check out the neighborhood. You can learn the crime rate, the costs of taxes, the report card for the schools in the area and other important facts. This should help you to decide if this is the area, you really want to live in.

5. Look at various homes in your price range in the area you have chosen. Bring along a pen and paper to jot down likes and dislikes about each home. If you look at several homes in one day, you may forget the amenities or other things you liked or disliked. Things you might wish to write down include the layout of the rooms, the color of the rooms, appliances, square footage, and if the yard is fenced. You may think of other things that are important to you and your family such as the amount of bathrooms, etc…

6. When you find a home you love, it is time to pay for a home inspection. Many times falling in love with a home is not a good idea if you do not plan on checking out every nook and cranny to ensure there are no major problems with such things as the roof, plumbing, etc…

7. Time for negotiating. You should now have an idea how much your mortgage payments will be, but you must consider other expenses along with these such as insurance, closing costs, and repairs if needed. You can always try to get the homeowner to reduce the price of the home for any repairs you think the home may need. This does not mean the homeowner will negotiate but in many cases, they will if the repairs are legitimate.

8. When it comes down to signing the final sales agreement, be sure to read it over carefully. You want everything that you have agreed upon to be in writing along with your signature and the signature of the seller.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 2:12 pm and is filed under San Diego Real Estate News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.