I’m sure you guys have heard by now via IG Stories that we have started house hunting the last month. Our goal at the beginning of 2019 was to save an X amount of money so that we could buy a new house in 2020. Now we have purchased a property before so sort of knew what it entailed but the LA market has been so competitive and overwhelming the last few years we knew this time around we needed professional help.
We decided near the end of October we decided to meet with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties team to better understand the process and prepare us for when the time came to purchase. I know buying a house can seem overwhelming, not knowing where to even start so I thought I’d share my journey and the steps we took to begin the process.
THE BEGINNING STEPS
Set a financial goal
You need to get your finances in order first and foremost. Set a timeline for when you’d ideally like to buy and make sure you’re budgeting for your goal. John and I spent hours last January creating spreadsheets to keep us financially on track for 2019. Create a budget and stick to it, bottom line.
Going to a Lender
After your finances are in order and you’re financially ready to buy you’ll need to go a lender. Our lender recommends to us by Berkshire Hathaway team. Not sure if you normally pay fees for this service, but just letting you know we did not. If you have no idea what a Lender is (I didn’t either lol) they basically decide how much of a loan the bank will give you for your future house AKA your house budget. They look at three things: Income, Assets, and Credit.
So get all that paperwork prepared ‘cus they want to see everything.
Meet with your agent
Once you’re approved it time to start looking and visit open houses with your agent. Finding an agent that understands what your looking for is key! Shortly after our Lender meeting, we met with our agent Phil. We explained everything we love and don’t love for our future house. Told him our ideal location, house type (I love Spanish style), our budget, our deal breakers (I need high ceilings and a backyard), ideal sq ft, school district, etc. you want to tell your agent everything you want to everything you don’t want that way when they start finding open homes for you to visit you’re not wasting your time. Having an agent find you the right home is invaluable. This is where having an agent is crucial. They have key insights to better locations and understand “real estate” lingo. I can’t tell you how many hours I wasted looking online not realizing it was all wrong.
Visiting Open houses
The best part IMO is visiting open houses. Yes, it’s overwhelming and sometimes disappointing but that’s all part of the journey. With every open house we visit, we learn more about what don’t like and what we love!
WHAT’S NEXT FOR US?
As we started our house hunting journey, we found out that we were gonna have a little one on the way! So our house hunting timeline and criteria need to change for our new family. To be honest we’re still trying to figure out what’s best for when baby Hong comes whether that’s us moving to a house closer to my parents, maybe changing our search to a home that has extra bedrooms or an area with stronger school districts… so many new things to consider.
Not that we’re not in a rush to buy any home, we want to take our time and find the right property in an area that makes the most sense for our growing family. Our goal is to still buy a home sometime in 2020 whether that’s before or after baby H comes so we’ll have to see what the market (and future) holds for us.
We have learned a lot in the last few months and know that we are in great hands with Berkshire Hathaway. We’ll give you guys another update as soon as we move on to the next step of this process! Hope this blog post helped some of you who are also house hunting!