Whether you are a happy newlywed looking for a perfect home with your spouse, or you’re moving from your previous home to your new one with your family, there always comes a time when you need to buy real estate. If you have no experience in this business, it gets rather hard to make the right choice. When it comes to buying your first home, it’s better to purchase real estate as a couple, so if you’re considering purchasing property together with your sweetheart, you’re doing it the right way! Here are 5 more tips that will help you buy your perfect home.
1. Plan everything ahead
Buying a home, especially for the first time, is not like buying a used car or an iPhone – it’s a decision that will influence your whole life for years and even decades, so it’s important not to make a bad choice. Before you apply for a mortgage, talk about your dream house together with your partner. Do you want a big house and a big family, or are you only going to have one kid, and therefore you don’t need a large home? Which neighbourhood do you both prefer? Do you want your new home to be close to work, school, hospital, park, etc? These questions need to be answered before any major decision is made!
2. Decide how you’re going to buy the house
Nowadays there are many opportunities to find your perfect house. It can be recommended to you by friends or relatives. You may hear an ad on TV or radio, or see it in a newspaper. However, it is believed that the most effective way to find a new home is to look for it online on JiJi. This website has thousands of real estate ads in every Nigerian city. Take a look at beautiful houses and apartments in Lagos, Abuja, Rivers and Oyo. There you can find flats, duplexes, apartments with 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms, furnished and unfurnished homes. As you can see, there are so many opportunities when your look for your perfect home on JiJi!
3. Analyse your finances
Have an honest conversation with your spouse about finances. If you’re both working, making a considerable of money, and have a good credit score, your best option is taking a mortgage together. By combining your savings you two will be able to afford a bigger down payment, which means you’ll qualify for a better deal with your mortgage. It’s important to know everything about your partner’s finances before you both visit the bank or other financial institution to apply for a mortgage, because you’ll be asked about each other’s money troubles, credit history, any possible credit card debt, student loans – anything that may prevent you from receiving a mortgage.
4. Maybe it’s better to go solo?
In case your partner’s credit score is low, or they have an existing debt of a large size, consider applying for the mortgage on your own. Of course, you’ll live in your new house together, but serious financial problems of your spouse may significantly lower your chances of qualifying for a mortgage or getting the best deal. Remember that it doesn’t matter if you apply on your own or you apply together with your spouse as a couple – both of your financial histories will be investigated by the bank, so don’t try to hide anything, because the truth will always come out.
5. Don’t rush
Perhaps, one of the most essential thing we can tell future homeowners is not to rush. Sure, the house you picked might seem perfect, and you want to buy it and move in as soon as possible, but we advise to think it over. There’s no need to hurry when it comes to something as important as buying your first home: even if you think you’ve found the one house that suits you in every sense, take a few weeks to look at other offers, compare prices, consult with your financial institution, see the house a few more times, and pay attention to the neighbourhood. If you really have found a perfect home, those few weeks will not change your mind and you’ll move in pretty quickly; and if your mind has changed, than this house wasn’t too perfect to begin with.
The key to buying a good home is taking your time and making smart choices!
