Buying a home is one of the most exciting events in life. After all, you are investing in a place where you plan to spend many years, make memories, and perhaps raise a family.
The home buying process can also be extremely stressful. There are tons of details to keep in mind, you are likely relocating, and there is a lot of money involved.
This can be especially stressful for anyone who has served in the military and is looking for their first home as a civilian. This guide to home buying for veterans takes a look at things to keep in mind when shopping for a house.
Keep reading to discover insight into military home buying that will help make the process go as smoothly as possible.
Stay Within Your Budget
The first thing to do before starting the house-hunting process is to figure out how much house you can afford. This means you’ll need to sit down with a pencil and paper and have an honest conversation about your budget.
Shopping for a home can be thrilling, but it’s important to not bite off more than you can chew. Home loan debt can quickly crush you in a hurry, thus you need to focus on not buying more than you really need.
Study your budget to get a realistic idea of the price range for homes to seriously consider. This will help alleviate stress both during the shopping process and after the purchase is made.
Research Your Lending Options
Once you’ve created a budget and have a realistic idea of what you can afford to spend, it’s time to start looking into lending options. Because unless you’re independently wealthy, you’re going to need to borrow a great deal of money for buying a home.
You can consider applying for a home loan at a bank or some other type of traditional lending institution, borrow money from family, or apply for grants based on race, financial hardship, and other important criteria.
The sooner you start researching lending options the better understanding you’ll have of how much you can spend when it’s time to start working with a real estate agent to find the home of your dreams.
Consider Applying for a VA Loan
Applying for the VA Home Loan Benefit is another great option for military veterans. Fortunately, most veterans qualify for a Va loan.
This type of mortgage is great because there is no down payment required, which offers a lot of buying power for anyone who hasn’t yet saved enough money for a traditional down payment on a home.
Making the situation even better, a law was recently passed that removed the cap on the amount that could be borrowed through the VA loan program.
The smartest thing you could do is to have a discussion with your lender about the full range of loan options that are available, as well as which loan options would work best for meeting your home-buying needs.
Get a Copy of Your Credit Report
It’s important to understand how your credit score impacts your ability to qualify for a home loan. Regardless of the type of loan you end up applying for, lenders will take a close look at your credit score and overall credit history.
This helps them determine whether or not to take accept the risking of lending the money to an applicant.
This is why it’s so important to keep a close eye on your credit, make it a priority to pay your bills on time and to resist taking on too many forms of debt prior to buying a home.
You might be surprised by the types of activities that affect your credit score. In fact, simply applying for credit such as store credit cards will impact your credit no matter if you are approved or not.
Cultivating good credit is a valuable habit for anyone wanting to develop significant borrowing power, and veterans are no exception.
Keep Your Job
You should also consider the importance of timing when applying for a home loan. Lenders are interested in how you plan to repay the loan, thus an applicant with solid employment is very attractive.
If you’ve been considering changing jobs, or you’re currently between jobs, this might not be the best time to be submitting a loan application.
Keeping your job is the perfect way to show a lender that you have a steady income, and will be able to faithfully make payments on time each month.
Anyone wanting to change jobs should at least wait until after you’ve been approved for a loan and purchased a home pursuing any potential new employment opportunities.
Hire a Skilled Real Estate Agent
Many people choose to find a home without using a real estate agent. Unfortunately, this could end up costing you time and money.
Realtors understand the housing market in their area and have a firm knowledge of how to help you get the best home for the money. The key is to develop a relationship with a skilled real estate agent and let them help you find the home of your dreams.
They can reduce the amount of time you have to invest in the search process, and guide you step by step through the entire process.
Save Up For Closing Costs
Don’t forget about closing costs. This can be expensive, so you’ll want to make sure that you have enough money to cover all fees that are involved with a real estate transaction.
Tips for Home Buying for Veterans
Buying a home can be exciting yet stressful. Fortunately, these tips for home buying for veterans can help make the process of buying a house as pleasant as possible.
Keep scrolling to discover more great real estate tips and advice.
