{"id":71182,"date":"2021-01-11T15:37:54","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T23:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/?page_id=71182"},"modified":"2021-01-11T16:28:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T00:28:35","slug":"tips-for-becoming-a-homeowner-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/tips-for-becoming-a-homeowner-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert Tips for Becoming a Homeowner in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So you\u2019ve decided to make 2021 the year you finally buy your first home. With mortgage rates remaining at historic lows, now is as good a time as ever to make the dream of homeownership a reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what do you need to know about buying a home in 2021? Are there any insider tips that can help you along the way? What can you be doing right now to help prepare yourself for becoming a f<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/guides\/first-time-home-buyer-guide\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">irst-time homebuyer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> this year?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To help you get started, real estate and financial experts weighed in with their best advice. Here are their top tips for becoming a homeowner in 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-71183\" src=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"becoming a homeowner in 2021\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home-225x150.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home-945x630.jpg 945w, https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/front-of-home.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Put together an experienced team.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Getting your offer accepted in the competitive 2021 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/us-housing-market\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">housing market<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> starts with your team. The first step is to find a local mortgage broker that doesn\u2019t charge you fees and to get your pre-approval locked in so you know your numbers and budget. Then it\u2019s time to go shopping with your realtor who should be an expert at negotiating on your behalf. Having the right team on your side will prevent stress and give you a fun and exciting home buying experience. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ehlerlendingteam.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ehler Lending<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Get pre-approved. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consult a lender to review your income, expenses, and financial goals in order to determine the type and amount of mortgage you qualify for. A pre-approval letter provides an estimate of what you might be able to borrow and demonstrates to home sellers that you\u2019re serious about buying. It also provides you with bargaining power which could give you an advantage over other buyers. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelandlending.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Homeland Lending<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Define your homebuying goal. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do this by asking yourself, &#8220;am I buying a home or investing in real estate?&#8221; Your primary residence is an investment in your lifestyle and family; it&#8217;s not an income-producing asset. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/carltonwealth.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carlton Wealth<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Check your credit score. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pull a copy of your credit report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.annualcreditreport.com\/index.action\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">annualcreditreport.com<\/a> to make sure there are no errors and make sure you check your scores through one of the credit bureaus before letting a lender check your credit. You want to make sure you have the highest <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/guides\/what-credit-score-is-needed-to-buy-a-house\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">credit score<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> possible to get the best rate on your new home mortgage. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bestcreditrx.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Best Credit RX<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rebuild your credit if needed.<\/strong> Your credit score was important when the economy was booming, now it\u2019s crucial that you have a great credit score, and it is that much more important if the economy dips further. There is good news &#8211; record-low interest rates on mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards.\u00a0 So start rebuilding and ensure that your FICO is in tip-top shape. &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/bluewatercredit.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">Blue Water Credit<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Determine how much you can afford.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Whatever amount you are approved for is not the right way to think about what you can afford. Instead, think about the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How much of a down payment do you have and is it 20% of the property value to avoid PMI (Primary Mortgage Insurance)?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can you afford the mortgage payment each month (including escrow)?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually, your approval limit is a lot higher than either what you can afford each month or what you can afford to put 20% down on. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atwoodfinancial.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Atwood Financial Planning<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Ensure you\u2019re financially prepared<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Homebuyers need to be financially prepared for the commitment a home purchase brings. They need to understand the difference between the mortgage they are qualified for and what actually fits within their financial plan. I caution my clients not to over-extend their monthly budgets and to factor in the total cost of homeownership; not just principal and interest payments, but insurance and taxes as well. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cavinesswealth.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Caviness Wealth Management<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Get your financial house in order. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A huge part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/guides\/how-to-buy-a-home\" data-wpel-link=\"exclude\">buying a home<\/a> is just getting your financial house in order. Basically making sure you have recent statements for your bank accounts, copies of your tax filings, and other documents readily available. Everyone thinks that banks can pull up this information electronically, but the process is incredibly time consuming and should be done before you find your dream home. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.figloans.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fig Loans<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Have your documentation reviewed upfront to avoid any last-minute surprises. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Contact your mortgage broker before starting the house shopping process and have your file fully reviewed with all documentation needed by lenders upfront. This will enable you to be competitive in the market, and avoid last-minute surprises or issues. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/martelmortgages.ca\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Martel Mortgages<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Maintain 100% open and honest communication with your loan officer. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Tell your loan officer everything in regards to employment, income, housing history, credit history, assets, everything &#8211; even if you don\u2019t think it is pertinent or even if you think it will hurt your chances of becoming approved. Surprises in the underwriting process of buying a home are never a good thing and most likely could have been resolved and corrected had they been openly communicated. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/defcc.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Delaware Financial Capital Corp.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Don\u2019t change jobs or take out new loans. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stability, employment, and income show the lender how much house you can afford and are important indicators for qualifying for a mortgage. So<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">don\u2019t change jobs or take out new loans while in the process of buying your new home. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstportland.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Portland<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Have a safety net. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you don\u2019t have any funds saved towards a down payment, consider waiting as you never know what unforeseen expenses you may encounter with a new home. Having a safety net will provide some financial security. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsbnh.bank\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Franklin Savings Bank<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Steer clear of becoming house poor.<\/strong> Use 25-30% of income as a rule of thumb to evaluate what you can realistically afford (that includes everything from the monthly mortgage, HOA, property tax, power\/electric, and all the fixings). Your decision shouldn\u2019t be based solely on emotions &#8211; stay strong and don\u2019t stretch your budget. &#8211; Evan Vladem, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afc-ais.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">Associated Investor Services<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Consider taking out a home equity line of credit.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you are a current homeowner with significant equity in your house, consider taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to help finance the down payment of your desired home purchase. This allows you to make a stronger offer that is not contingent upon selling your home. In order for this to be effective, you have to be confident that you can sell your existing home quickly and have the ability to make both mortgage payments for the period of time between the new purchase and sale of your existing home. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.4jwealth.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4J Wealth Management<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Get certified ahead of time. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With home inventory levels extremely low, positioning yourself to have the best chance of getting your offer accepted, is critical. Arguably, the most important component of this is ensuring that your loan application is fully underwritten prior to making any offer. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.familyga.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Family Mortgage Team<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Submit an offer with a pre-approval letter.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> When buying a house, make sure you submit an offer with a pre-approval letter from a mortgage lender. This is very important because this signifies to sellers that you are a serious buyer who has done his\/her homework. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fairfaxlending.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fairfax Lending<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Make a competitive offer.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In a competitive market, your offer needs to be competitive.\u00a0 Many lenders offer a \u201cplatinum\u201d pre-approval if you provide all your financial documents upfront so you can be approved pending appraisal and title.\u00a0 Ask your lender to reach out to the listing agent when your offer is submitted. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/homeloansbyjosh.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home Loans by Josh<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Beware of your closing costs. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Closing costs can quickly become a considerable amount of money including; appraisals, title searches, taxes, etc. Work closely with your realtor to clearly outline and estimate these beforehand. &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bayntree.com\/\" rel=\"&quot;nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bayntree Wealth Advisors<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So you\u2019ve decided to make 2021 the year you finally buy your first home. With mortgage rates remaining at historic lows, now is as good a time as ever to make the dream of homeownership a reality.\u00a0 But what do you need to know about buying a home in 2021? Are there any insider tips [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":70515,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[12438],"class_list":["post-71182","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.7 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Expert Tips for Becoming a Homeowner in 2021 - Redfin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With mortgage rates at historic lows, 2021 is a great year to buy a home. 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