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Your Essential First Time Home Buyer Guide

 

5 Essential Tips All First Time Home Buyers Should Know

Looking for some helpful tips for first time home buyers that could save you a headache or two? We’ve got you covered.

Along with the excitement and sense of accomplishment that can come with buying a first home, it can also be a very overwhelming process.

As insurance professionals, we see firsthand how important it is to protect one of your most valuable assets. We want to assist you in making the best informed decision possible and help make the many transactions of home ownership as seamless as we can.

Through our first hand knowledge and experience here at Duliban Insurance Brokers, we have put together a helpful first time home buyer guide to consider when looking for your future home.

We are here to provide you with a tailored policy that fits your lifestyle as well as to provide very competitive rates from the most trusted insurance companies in Canada.

Here are some essential tips for first time home buyers that everyone should read.

 

1. Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

The biggest mistake you could make when it’s your first time buying a home in Ontario is not getting pre-approved for a mortgage. In today’s real estate market, this is essential. The Niagara real estate market in particular is hot right now.

Don’t even start looking for houses until you know what you’ve been approved for. This is absolutely essential advice for first time home buyers. Nothing is worse than finding a perfect home, then finding out that it’s above what you’re approved for.

Sometimes real estate agents won’t even take you on as a client until you’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage.

 

2. Know Your Real Budget

There are more factors involved than just your mortgage. Make sure you factor those in before you agree to look for houses in a certain price range.

You’ll have to consider your lifestyle, any child care costs, car payments, property taxes, insurance policies, commute time to work, and food. Add these estimated costs to your monthly estimated mortgage payments to make sure you can afford what you’re buying.

If you don’t want to give up going out for dinner, weekly movie outings, or your expensive car, then you have to be careful what you spend on your new home and maybe sacrifice buying the one with the in ground pool.

It’s also important not to forget about closing costs, paying your real estate agent, moving costs, and any furniture you’ll have to purchase for the new home.

Remember, just because your bank approves you for a mortgage doesn’t mean you have to spend that entire amount. Track how much you spend per month. It’s recommended that your housing costs should be about 32% of your monthly income, so keep that in mind.

 

3. Create Your Checklist

It’s essential that you know what you want in your first home.

Your “buying a home checklist” should be realistic to your budget and what you’re looking to spend. For example, you can’t expect to buy a home with stainless steel appliances, marble countertops, and a pool if your budget is modest.

Whether you’re buying your home with your spouse or you’re doing it on your own, you should also have a list of features you’re willing to compromise on. Unless you have a million dollars to spend, you’re not getting everything you want.

Don’t settle for a fixer upper if you don’t want to do that much work, but don’t let your expectations get out of hand.

 

4. Keep Your Emotions in Check

As a first time home owner, there are a lot of emotions, feelings, and ideas that you’re going to be going through.

When it comes to looking for the house itself, don’t become attached to homes that you know you can’t afford. Even if you just want to look out of curiosity, don’t fall for the temptation. You’ll only disappoint yourself and make it harder to accept a house within your realistic budget.

Don’t become impulsive when it comes time to make your offer and try to close the deal. You might be really excited because you’ve found the house you really want and you don’t want anyone to get there first.

While it’s good to be aggressive, it’s important that you don’t end up offering more than you should pay just because you want to secure the house. You could end up in a bidding war that you can’t win.

Additionally, you should be realistic about the home itself. It’s likely that this isn’t going to be your home forever. However, you are going to be there for a while. The average first time home owner stays in their first two homes for about 7 to 10 years.

Don’t purchase a home you can’t see yourself living in happily for at least 4 or 5 years, and be willing to put your money into it.

 

5. Get the Right Home Insurance

Since this is your first time purchasing home insurance, it’s difficult to be sure that you’ve found the right policy.

There are so many companies out there offering different policies. There are also many hidden factors you probably don’t even know about. This includes restricted coverages to your contents, no replacement coverage on your home, and a lack of water damage coverage.

That’s why you should work with an expert to make sure that you’re prepared for any unfortunate circumstances that could come your way. The risk just isn’t worth it.

Find a broker you can trust to make sure you get a good rate for your first time home insurance. Duliban Insurance works with the best insurance companies to provide secure home and property insurance for all types of families and clients.

 

Trust Duliban for Your First Home Insurance Policy

If it’s your first time buying home insurance, you want to make sure you purchase it from someone you trust. At Duliban Insurance Brokers, you can trust us as your friendly hometown broker. We’ll treat you like family and help tailor your home policy as if it was our own.

We have many trusted and loyal relationships with our 20 different insurance companies. This makes finding the right policy for you very easy. Being a first time home owner is exciting! We can help you not only get an affordable premium, but also help protect your greatest asset.

You can have peace of mind knowing that, should the unexpected occur, you not only have the proper coverages in place, but you also have a broker that you can trust and rely on to get you back up and running.

Trust Duliban as your Hometown Broker for all your insurance needs.

Contact us today at 1-855-385-4226 or online to get a free quote or start your claim today.

 

 

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