Buying Your First Home in Summerville, SC

Summerville, SC is one of the most affordable cities in the Charleston metro area for buying a home.  As a result, it attracts many of Charleston’s first time home buyers.  If you’re one of the many home buyers in this category, here are some tips to help make your first home investment successful.

1)  Take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit!  Eight thousand dollars is a lot of money to most people, but for first time home buyers this amount of savings can really make a difference on a lower scaled budget.  The deadline for this is November 30, 2009, so you’ll need to close by that date in order to get the credit.

2)  Think about resale down the road.  Usually the first home you buy is just the first home you buy.  You’re probably not planning on spending the rest of your life in this home, so it’s especially important for first time buyers to choose a home that will have good resale value down the road.  Whether you plan on staying in your first home 3 years or 10 years, you’ll want to have a home that will appeals to future buyers.  Doing this will not only ensure that you can sell your home in the future, but it will also bring a higher price when it comes time to sell.  Talk with your Realtor about which Summerville neighborhoods have performed well over the past five years as far as home sales are concerned.

3)  Get pre-approved before you go look at homes.  Buyers who already have a mortgage may have a good idea about what price range they should be looking in.  However, if you’re a first time home buyer, there is really no way to determine this unless you talk with a lender.  You may get approved for $80K or $150K.  And, in Summerville, that’s the difference between a condo and a house!  It’s important to know how much money you’ll be approved for before you go look at homes.  You don’t want to find the perfect house and then find out that you can’t actually buy it.  Also, many buyers think that they have to use a mortgage lender who is located in the Summerville area.  This is not the case.  You can use any lender that you trust (and if you’re not sure where to start, your Realtor should be able to recommend good lenders for you to contact). 

4)  Don’t overextend yourself!  If you currently rent a home, figure out how much you spend every month in the rent and bills.  Remember that when you own a home, you’re not only responsible for the mortgage payments and regular bills, but also taxes, insurance, and HOA fees.  The taxes and insurance will be based on your home value.  The HOA completely depends on which neighborhood you choose and the amenities that it offers.  The good news is that you’ll know all of these amounts before you close on your home.  Be sure to talk with your lender about how much you want to spend in your monthly payments and also whether you want taxes and insurance included in that monthly mortgage payment.  Also, talk with your Realtor about these costs.  He or she can recommend contacts for insurance so that you can shop around and get the best rate.  Your Realtor can also get HOA estimates so that you’ll know how much a neighborhood costs, so to speak, when you’re driving around and comparing these.