4 Things To Do Before You Think About Buying A House In Port-Elizabeth

Not only will buying a house be the biggest purchase of your life, but it will probably be the most complex transaction you’ll ever be involved in. It’s just not something to jump into without forethought and research – or without expert professional guidance from your local real estate agent. Before you sign the dotted line and commit to 30 years of monthly mortgage payments, you need to make sure you’re ready to take the plunge and that it’s the right move for you. To help you out, then, here are the 4 things to do before you think about buying a house in Port-Elizabeth.

1. Determine What You Can Really Afford

The most common mistake people make when buying a house in Port-Elizabeth is that they buy more home than they can actually afford. One way to avoid this regrettable mistake is to do the math and then follow the common wisdom, which says that you should spend “no more than about 30% of your take-home pay on housing.”

In determining what you can really afford, you also need to keep in mind that that recommended 30% cap includes a lot more than just your monthly mortgage payment. For you will also have recurring expenses such as homeowners insurance, property taxes, private mortgage insurance, HOA fees, maintenance and repairs, and probably more.

A good way to ensure that you don’t go beyond what you can afford when buying a house in Port-Elizabeth is to use the “28/36 rule.” This rule states that you should “spend no more than 28% of your monthly gross income on housing costs and no more than 36% on total debt, which includes housing and other debt like student loans and car loans.” This is, after all, the measure mortgage lenders commonly use “to asses your borrowing capacity.”

2. Budget for Down Payment and Closing Costs

Further, before buying a house in Port-Elizabeth, you should think about budgeting for the down payment and closing costs. Ideally, you would be able to pay 20% of the purchase price down in order to be able to borrow a smaller amount and to avoid having to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI). This PMI, which provides a safety cushion for the lender in case you can’t make your payments, can be a pretty hefty amount, typically 1% to 2% of the loan amount.

And then there are the inevitable closing costs, which buyers frequently neglect to take into account. But they shouldn’t. Although closing costs vary depending on location and the type of loan, they typically run from 2% to 7% of the total price of the property. “That means,” according to real estate pros, “if you’re buying something for $250,000, you’ll owe anywhere between $5,000 and $17,500 in fees. For the median U.S. home these expenses exceed $13,000. At closing, you will pay the first of some recurring costs such as taxes, insurance, prepaid loan interest, and title insurance, as well as some one-time fees for the inspection, appraisal, application, and more.

3. Get Mortgage Pre-Approval

For some important reasons, you should also look into getting pre-approved for a mortgage before buying a house in Port-Elizabeth. For a “pre-approval analyzes your creditworthiness, tells you how much you can borrow from your lender and, ultimately, can make the difference between winning a bid or not.” In fact, in some cases, especially in hot markets, pre-approval is almost a necessity “because it spells out exactly how much a lender has agreed to loan you, thus assuring the seller that you’re both willing and able.”

Be aware, too, the getting pre-approved is not the same thing as getting pre-qualified. Pre-qualification is much weaker because you don’t have to provide documentation to your lender to back up your claims about your financial situation. It gives you an idea of what you can afford, but that’s about it. Pre-approval carries far more weight with sellers.

4. Research the Area and Local Market

One final thing to do before you think about buying a house in Port-Elizabeth involves the area you’re interested in. Here’s what the experts unequivocally say: “There’s no such thing as being too informed when it comes to buying property, so take your time to know as much as you can about the [area or neighborhood] you’ve identified as having potential.” Your research here would include looking closely at local market conditions, especially property prices and trends in property values. But don’t skip other important considerations like crime rates, quality of schools, the personality of the neighborhood, and so on. Your local real estate agent can be a great asset in uncovering this information. (To discover more, just call 0823283345.)

Doing these 4 things before you think about buying a house in Port-Elizabeth will go a long way toward putting you on the path to a wise purchase. Still, more remains to be done. And this is where its best to rely on the expertise of your agent.