That depends on your individual situation. What I mean is that if you are renting you are probably under a lease, and you will want to plan your lease ending with the purchase of your new home. If you have a blemish on your credit, you will need time to work through that. If you don’t already have your down payment in the place, then you will need time to get the down payment together.
If you are a homeowner, and you are looking to purchase another home then you don’t have to be concerned about coordinating a lease end. However, you will need to work through the other concerns mentioned above. If all the concerns already mentioned, are I place then you are ready to move to the next step.
Ok, your credit is good, you have your down payment in place, and you’ve taken into consideration your lease end date.
Your next step should be to locate a realtor. Your realtor should be able to break down the process into bite size chunks, so you have a clear understanding of which steps to take.
Hopefully, your agent will suggest that you contact a mortgage lender asap to determine a few things. One being how much home you can afford, and if there are any concerns on your credit report.
After you get through this process, and you get a clear understanding of where you are house purchasing wise.
Now you will need to determine what type of home you want based off what you learned from the mortgage broker. Do some soul searching and be realistic about what you can afford and what you need. Going into this process with unrealistic expectations will only cause you heart ache later.
Now you need to communicate to your realtor your realistic expectations of what you want in a home. Which areas you would like to live in, how many bedrooms and baths needed. Price range, and any must haves that are on your wish list.
Planning for your home purchase can be full of excitement, and anxiety all at the same time. To keep these emotions to a minimum I suggest most people begin their home purchase journey about a year in advance. I know twelve months seems like a long time. It’s always good to plan ahead. If you have credit issues or need time to work on the down payment this cushion of time will keep you mentally focused, and hopefully save a trip to the home buying counselor.
By R. Jones
