Buying your first home

Published: July 22, 2008

So, you’ve decided to join the ranks of homeowners for the first time. Now what? First-timers can feel like they are drowning in a sea of lingo that’s about as foreign to their vocabulary as ancient hieroglyphs. From escrow to P.M.I, a little homework will go a long way in ensuring a happy and successful first-time home buying experience.

So, the first step: Learn the lingo. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers a comprehensive list of vocabulary that you will probably want to learn at http://consumerlawpage.com/brochure/hmvocab.shtml.

Next, determine your budget. How much house can you afford? As a rule of thumb, your annual mortgage payment, taxes and homeowner's insurance shouldn't exceed 28 percent of your gross income according to www.smartmoney.com. Check out one of the many mortgage calculators online.

While you are doing these things, you will undoubtedly want to be looking for properties that you are interested in buying. Many buyers are doing most of their searching online. Murray suggests making a detailed list of all the things you really want in a home and all the things you absolutely don’t want.

“I learned it’s really, really important to know what you want,” she said. “It just makes the buying process so much easier.”

Once she had determined that she definitely wanted a two-car garage, three bedrooms, a brick home with metal siding that wouldn’t have to be painted and that she wanted to live in Edmond, finding a house was a breeze. She started looking seriously in February, 2005 and had made an offer on the perfect home for her one month later.

Murray also believes that it’s important to have a real estate agent working for you.

“I really needed her to help me look at things realistically and look for things in homes that I maybe wouldn’t have been aware of,” she said. Furber was her Realtor Murray said that she was honest, straightforward and able to narrow her search to the right homes in the right area which saved time in the long run.

Finally, understanding the different types of mortgage options that are available to you will help you make an educated decision, find the best interest rates and simplify your home buying process.

Oklahoma offers some great incentives to buy a home like 1st Gold, a down payment and closing cost assistance program that is available statewide.

In addition to the state programs, federal funds and grants are available to first time home buyers in Oklahoma through the Homes and Communities program of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. www.grants.gov has a comprehensive list of government grants that are available to first time home buyers that can assist with down payments and closing costs.

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