It’s no secret that the process of buying a house can be tedious and a bit stressful. The more prepared a customer is before the home buying process or home building process begins, the smoother the entire journey. To help prepare our potential homeowners, we have outlined some steps to buying a house or building a custom home.
Tip 1: Evaluate Your Financial Situation
Unless you’re paying cash for a new home, understanding your financial situation impacts your buying options. Financial factors to consider are credit score, debt-to-income ratio, down payment, closing costs, and HOA fees. There are some low credit-loans available, but generally, you’ll need a score of at least 620 for most conventional loans. If your credit score is lower than that, you’ll want to start working towards raising that score. Regarding debt-to-income ratio, this can drastically affect your odds at loan approval based on the number. For a conventional loan, you’ll need a down payment of at least 20%. Depending on the neighborhood you choose, there could be HOA dues. This is something to take into consideration when calculating your monthly cost on top of your mortgage payment.
Tip 2: Choose The Right Neighborhood
Neighborhoods are just as important as a home’s features. Lifestyle, school district, and surrounding home values should impact your decision on choosing a neighborhood. If you’re an avid golfer, you might want to choose a neighborhood with a golf course. If you have children in school, finding out which school district the particular neighborhood is zoned in can influence this decision, as well. Do your research regarding school districts, as well. There are some neighborhoods and communities that are split between districts.
Tip 3:Â Consider The Size Of The House/Decide On The Floor Plan
Different floor plans have their different benefits. It’s important to become familiar with things that are a “must” for your home vs. things that are a “want” for your home. Ideally, your perfect home will have all your musts and your wants, but differentiating the two while looking at floor plans and seeing live pricing change will help evaluate your budget while adding the must haves and the wants. For instance, if you know you need five bedrooms, you’ll want to make sure that is on the floor plan to which you’re drawn, or can be added while staying on budget. If a game room would be ideal for your house, but doesn’t come standard within that floor plan, it’s worth looking at other floor plans, as well as modifying the one you love most and comparing prices. The interactive floor plans feature on our website is a great tool. And while it has several options, there are available options you’ll learn during your meeting with your Home Specialist, as well. Knowing the size of home you need for your family, and having two favorite floor plans chosen is recommended.
Tip 4: Know If It’s The Right Time To Build A House In Texas
If buying a home in Texas is your dream, you shouldn’t rule out building one. Consider the market, your personal timelines, and how long you plan to stay in your home. If you’re planning on staying in your home long term, building your dream home can make much more sense than purchasing an existing home. There’s convenience to buying an existing home, but new construction gives you the opportunity to make your house everything you’ve ever wanted. When you are spending the amount of money it costs to make such a large purchase, having everything that you need and want within your walls and beyond is important. You don’t want to settle for three bedrooms if what you truly need is four. Remodeling down the road can end up costing more than building your custom home from the get go. Be mindful of resale value, what you want, and current market trends.
Tip 5: Make Sure Your Home Builder Doesn’t Cut Corners
We’ve all heard horror stories of building a house. It’s important to search Google Reviews, Facebook, and more to gather information about builders. You may see beautiful homes built by a builder, and then find that their Google Reviews are less than stellar. Your home is an investment that should stand the test of time. Having confidence in the builder you choose is of utmost importance. You want to find a builder that has a team who are willing to hold your hand during the entire process and beyond. Building a home is a big deal. The right builder should be just as focused on building a lasting relationship with the homeowners as they are with building the house.
In conclusion, buying or building a home in Texas is a very exciting journey if you are well prepared. Lack of preparation leaves room for surprises, and with an investment like this, you don’t want surprises. As much fun as rollercoasters can be, an emotional rollercoaster is not the type of journey one would wish for while making such big decisions. Evaluate, research, and then be ready to enjoy the ride! “