Searching for your first home? Read this!

How did we buy a house you ask? It was a journey for sure! I always assumed it would take around three months or so to find our first home, but it way way longer. It took my husband and I almost a year to find the perfect house for us. Never in a million years did I think we would be that couple that was indecisive, picky, or couldn’t agree on the right style, but here we are settling into our new home, and we were indeed those people!

Looking back, I don’t regret it. We are now in the perfect house for us, and I know understand why none of the other houses didn’t work out. Our new house is in a great community, in a cul-de-sac, has a basement and a sunroom, and really great bones! Only one other couple lived in the house before us, so we love that we are getting a house that is fairly new.

So if you are looking for a new home as a first-time buyer, I’ve complied my top tips for buying a house when you are first getting started.

1. Go to a couple of open houses without a realtor when you are first getting started on your home search. This allows you to really focus in on different neighborhoods and areas you know you are interested in without the influence of a realtor or outside voices. Additionally, it allows you to explore homes at leisure without the hassle of making appointments, and get a feel for what your must-haves are for your new home.
2. Once you have narrowed down a couple of neighborhoods and generally the type of house you are looking for (single family or townhome/condo, number of bedrooms, deal-breakers), I would then reach out to a realtor. Get recommendations from friends, or you can find your realtor on online sites like Realtor or Zillow, which was the route we took.
3. Its important to establish a relationship with a realtor you really get along with and who you trust. We looked at over 40 houses, and I know any other realtor would have deterred us from seeing that many homes, but our realtor was very accommodating and really allowed us to explore different areas and different kind of homes so we could really nail down what we wanted in our first home. If you are not vibing with your initial realtor, and don’t feel like they aren’t providing the assistance you need, its okay to have a conversation with them to see if interests are aligned with your home search.
4. It is okay to take a break in your home search. After a couple of months, we realized the process was really draining us and it was all we talked about, so we decided to take a month break to really just enjoy life and not think about buying a house. It was a much needed break, and allowed us to come back to the process with fresh eyes.
5. I know everyone says this, but it is really important. Figure out your deal-breakers! Our must-haves were a bedroom/bathroom on the first floor and at least a semi-open living space. We knew we wanted guests to be able to visit and have their own space, including our parents, and we also knew we wanted our living space to be open without having to tear down a lot of walls. Once we figured out our must-haves it made our home search a lot easier, because we wouldn’t even look at a house if it didn’t have those things. Figuring our your deal-breakers saves you a lot of time in the long run.

Let me hear your thoughts! What tips would you give someone searching for their first home?