The search to find the right home begins with having a great real estate agent who can provide the right support and experience along with good advice and professional knowledge. The home search and your mortgage approval are two big details of the start of your home purchase process. Here are some recommendations to help you out during your upcoming home hunt and purchase.

Search Out Homes

At the start of your home search, you will get a list of homes that fit the criteria that you and your real estate agent discussed. Your agent applies the search parameters into the MLS (multiple listing system) search and provides a full list of home listings, which you can review through and choose the ones you want to tour through personally. 

Once you go through the list, be alert for any new home listings as they get posted on the MLS. Your real estate agent can set up a notification sent to your email when any new listings come on the service so you will be one of the first to see them. These new home listings are brand new and if you are in a hot market, you will need to act quickly to review the home and submit an offer to purchase if you want to pursue the home. 

Also, ask your real estate agent to help you watch for homes that go back onto the market after they have fallen out of escrow, or the previous buyer who wanted to purchase the home was unable to do so for some reason. Homes falling out of escrow are worth the chance to look at and evaluate as you would a new listing because they are likely a good purchase opportunity.

Know Your Financial Limitations

The financial end of buying a home is one you should look at early on and start with the mortgage application process first. Once you know how much loan you qualify for, it helps you narrow in on your search criteria while having a comfortable budget. You want to be able to afford your new mortgage payment but still have funds to pay for home maintenance, new home utilities, and to put money aside as savings for future home repairs and maintenance. 

You should also look at evaluating your down payment potential to estimate this into your mortgage needs. The more you have to put as a down payment on a home, the less you may have to finance, resulting in a lower mortgage payment and the potential to avoid paying for private mortgage insurance.