Buying a new home in Baton Rouge is a life-changing journey that you should not take lightly. First, it involves spending significant money that might cause you to incur more debts when not handled well. Second, buying a new home in Baton Rouge requires choosing a location that best suits your needs and lifestyle. Aside from that, there are many other reasons why you need to be extra careful when going through the homebuying process.
So, this article devised a comprehensive guide to buying a new home in Baton Rouge below to help you purchase the house that could provide your needs and is compatible with your lifestyle at the best price. Read further and learn how it’s done.
1. Decide if homebuying is right for you.
One of the first things that you should do when planning to purchase a new home is to asses if buying a new house is right for you. Typically, you can look into the pros and cons of homebuying and examine if purchasing is beneficial to you.
Although many homebuyers opt to purchase a new home because this can be considered a sign of independence and can make you enjoy the thought of being your own landlord, it is best to conduct a realistic assessment. This will prevent you from making a decision you’d most likely regret and ensure that you’ll benefit from what you intend to do.
2. Identify the type of house that suits your needs.
Buying a new home exposes you to many options, such as a single-family home, multi-family building, condominium, or townhouse. However, don’t let the abundance of options prevent you from buying the home that best suits your needs. Check the features of the house you are interested in buying and assess if these could make living in it beneficial.
3. Know the mortgage size that you’ll qualify for.
Before searching for a new home to purchase, it would be helpful if you’d know the maximum amount the lender is willing to lend you. This will help you identify the type of homes that you’ll be able to purchase.
Furthermore, it would be equally helpful if you could get pre-approved for a loan before making an offer for a house you are interested in buying. This makes the seller view you as a serious buyer, encouraging them to negotiate well with you. Also, having a pre-approved loan gives the realtor an idea of how much you can afford and helps them devise a strategy to help you better.
Due to the importance of obtaining pre-approval first-hand, start researching for lenders in the area, compare their respective rates and fees, and then submit your application along with the supporting documentation earlier.
4. Identify the home that you can afford.
Search for a home that you can afford to pay monthly. Although you already have a pre-approved mortgage with a higher loan amount, you need to develop a realistic budget to ensure you will not borrow more than you can afford. Many first-time home buyers usually commit this mistake and end up house-poor with no money to spend on other personal needs because they took out loans with higher monthly premiums.
5. Hire a reliable Baton Rouge realtor.
Buying a home in Baton Rouge can be a daunting experience because of the abundance of available options. However, hiring a reliable Baton Rouge realtor can boost the chances of finding and buying your dream home at the best price. These real estate professionals offer many benefits and significantly make your homebuying journey successful.
First off, having a reliable Baton Rouge realtor by your side allows you to gain access to a lot of home listings. Almost all Baton Rouge realtors share their resources and exclusive information about the best listings in the city with their clients. As such, you’ll probably find the house that best suits your needs and budget.
Second, hiring a trusted Baton Rouge realtor like the Nicole Spellman Group guarantees that you are guided through every step of the homebuying process. The team is proficient in handling all aspects of the homebuying procedure and is committed to helping you succeed in reaching your real estate goals.
On top of that, hiring a reliable Baton Rouge realtor assures that you are correctly represented during negotiations. Real estate agents like those employed by the Nicole Spellman Group have extensive experience negotiating on their client’s behalf and have a solid track record of assisting clients in getting the most out of their homebuying journey.
6. Shop for the best Baton Rouge home for sale in the market.
Upon hiring a reliable realtor, you can immediately start shopping for the best Baton Rouge home for sale in the market. You can begin the search by consulting online sources. Also, you can consider asking around for referrals. The good thing about this search method is you’ll get first-hand information about the properties you might be interested in buying.
Aside from that, you can ask your realtor for help with where to look for homes to buy. Typically, these real estate professionals are privy to information about the best properties on sale. You can ask your realtor to request a list of properties aligned with your needs and current budget. Doing this allows you to devote most of your time to checking and assessing the properties that meet your criteria. Also, the chances of finding the best housing option are very high.
7. Secure mortgage pre-approval.
While shopping and building a list of properties you want, don’t forget to secure mortgage pre-approval. With the help of your realtor, shop for mortgage deals, submit applications, and secure a pre-approval. Although many homebuyers often fail to do this, securing a pre-approved mortgage makes your real estate journey very convenient. The pre-approval makes the sellers view you as a prized and serious buyer. As such, they will most likely take your offer seriously and become more willing to negotiate with you.
Also, securing a pre-approved mortgage narrows your property options to those you can afford. Since you already know the maximum amount the lender is willing to provide you, you can now focus on the properties you can afford. Aside from helping you save time, this technique also prevents you from incurring a lot of debt to purchase a house you cannot afford.
8. Make an offer.
With a reliable Baton Rouge realtor, a house you are interested in buying, and a pre-approved mortgage, you are ready to make an offer. Unfortunately, making an offer is not as easy as it sounds. You need to take a lot of things into consideration to do this. One of these is that you need to throw out an amount lower than the seller’s price but not too low, making it look like a lowball offer.
Luckily, you can ask for help from your reliable Baton Rouge realtor. In most cases, your agent will not tell you the exact amount to offer but will surely give you an idea of what a successful offer looks like. An experienced realtor can effectively guide you to make an offer that could greatly benefit you.
9. Have the house inspected.
Hire a professional inspector to inspect the house you are planning to purchase. This allows you to determine if the home has existing and hidden issues hidden from plain sight. As such, you can request that the seller repair these issues before purchasing. You can also use the findings as leverage to convince the seller to adjust the property’s price.
Although a house inspection could cause you to incur an additional expense, this could save you from dealing with serious home issues. Furthermore, a professional inspection ensures the home is safe for your family or loved ones.
10. Decide whether to close or move on.
Based on the home inspector’s findings and the advice from your Baton Rouge realtor, decide whether to close the deal or move and consider buying other property options included in your list. If the inspector finds out that the home’s current condition will cause you to incur many maintenance and repair expenses in the future, it is best to walk away from the deal and move on to another one. Also, talk to your realtor and listen to his suggestions. These professionals are trained to see potential problems in a deal and assess whether any of these are disadvantageous for you.
Conclusion
Contrary to common belief, buying a new home in Baton Rouge is not as complicated as it sounds. All you need to do is research how it’s correctly done or consider doing the techniques provided earlier. On top of that, you should hire a reliable Baton Rouge realtor like Nicole Spellman Group. As soon as this is done, your homebuying journey will be a walk in the park as the real estate professional you hired will handle all the hard work for you and ensure you achieve all your real estate goals.
Start your homebuying journey and pursue your goal of buying a new home in Baton Rouge with the help of the city’s best real estate team, the Nicole Spellman Group.
