A Comprehensive Guide to First-Time Home Buying

We know buying and building a new home for the first time can be VERY overwhelming. You want affordable new home construction AND a modern and beautiful home. Here is the deal—if you have chosen the right on your lot home building company, the process will be much more enjoyable because they will educate you and communicate with you throughout the entire process!

 

Here are some of the most important tips we’ve learned along the way as residential home building professionals.

 

1.    USE A PREFERRED LENDER- If you take away only one tip from this post let this be the one! This is even more important when you are doing an on-your-lot build because the circumstances are unique, and not every lender will know what’s best for your situation.

 

This can lead to hefty consequences. A preferred lender is adept to how the procedure works and has experience with this type of home building process

2.    STRENGTHEN YOUR CREDIT SCORE. This could (and will) be a whole other blog post, but the first step is KNOWING your credit score. It’s important when buying a home because it will determine your interest rate and acquired fees.

3.    READ ALL DOCUMENTS THOROUGHLY- This is so, so important because every single step of the entire process is written down, and if you miss one thing, it could be the difference between the floor you thought you chose and the floor you signed off on! It will explain in depth what is covered in your warranty, and most importantly, the costs. If you only ever read one document again, let this be the one!

4.    BE OPEN MINDED ABOUT YOUR FLOOR PLAN- We have plenty of clients who have already chosen the plan they want from a different source; adamant about using THAT plan only and nothing else.

 

The problem is that there are a lot of draftsmen out there who will draw you whatever home plan your heart desires, but they do not take into consideration the land development you will have to do, and sadly, some people will spend thousands of dollars on a plan they can’t even use.  

 

We’ve found that we have been able to create a personalized home plan we already have that will fit the needs of any customer at a far better price.

5.    BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR NEEDS AND YOUR BUDGET- Make a list of the needs you must have and what you are willing to let go of. Be specific and definitive about what you want to spend on upgrades and what is not worth it. Keep your budget in mind when making these decisions.

6.    PREPARE FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT COSTS- We have absolutely no idea how much land development will cost before we look at your land. When we go out to inspect the land, it is still a GUESSTIMATE to what it will cost. There are many factors that could possibly come up during the development process, so be prepared for this and have some cushion in your budget for it.

7.    DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN! This one is just as important as all the rest. If you aren’t having fun with this process, you will find things to worry about. This is a trap! You’ve chosen your builder because you trusted them and their team. They’ve got this, so you can rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to make your dreams come true!

We've added our Youtube video on this topic as well!

We highly suggest sharing this post with friends because this is the realness no one talks about! :)

If you would like to talk to a Red Door Homes professional, give us a call at (256) 733- 5389

Here are a few links we used to help create this post!

https://www.ahfa.com/homebuyers/homebuyer-resources/tips-for-buying-your-first-home

https://www.investopedia.com/updates/first-time-home-buyer/

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/build-your-own-house-tips-31189880