Home buying tips first time buyer

Buying the first house is always exciting, but there are many things that needed to know before settling on a house and put in an offer.

The first thing is of course to look for houses for sale, but where would you like to live in, what is the environment and neighborhood you like. Do you have any children and are they going to start school in the very near future? These are the things that need to be considered before looking for a house.

If you like a quiet neighborhood with parks, with good school, then homes in suburban will be the houses that interest you and your family. If you are planning to have children and grow your family, then a 3 or 4 bedroom should be your choice.

If you prefer a place where everything is conveniently located within walking distance, then mid-town or downtown may be the choice. But they are good as long as you are not planning to have a family within the next few years. Houses in downtown or midtown tend to have small yard, some houses may not even have a backyard, hence not enough spaces for kids to play as they grow up.

Buying a very small house will be economical for a few years before kids coming along, however, once the family grows, you are forced to sell the one you live in and look for a bigger one. It will be more difficult emotionally to leave the house you like and it will also be difficult in terms of finance. The reason is, with a new addition to the family and a bigger house, the expense will be huge when both come at the same time!

If you plan to grow your family within 3 years, it is better off to buy at least a 3 bedroom house, of course, it has to be within your financial means. First, there is a financial comitment of you and your better half, so you are building a habit to watch where you spend your money and keeping a habit to save money for unexpected things. Secondly, the first 3 years of mortgage payments mostly go to the interest portion of the mortgage, slowly the mortgage payments go more into the principal. So when you have a new member in the family, you don't feel as much stress financially since your mortgage payment will not be a big jump because of moving to a bigger house to accomodate a growing family. You will be more enjoyable with the new bundle of joy than thinking of keeping the household running all the time.

There are also other things associated with owning a house. Besides mortgage payment, there is home insurance to insure your house, property tax, garbage disposal tax, hydro, water and heating bills. All these expenses come along with owning a house.

If you and your spouse both work, the most important thing is it should never be spending more than half of the entire household income on mortgage payments and expenses coming along with owning a house. It should be half of the household income on house expenses, and the other half income on food and other stuffs and putting some money away for rainy days. This way, if one person loses a job, you are not forced to sell the house immediately or may be forced to walk away from the house, hence losing all the downpayment and the payments that go into the principal.

The ideal situation is less than half of the entire household income can cover the house expenses so there will be money for food as well with just one income. In case the other person loses the job, the family can still stay in the house and not losing all money you have put into the house.