Wow!  What an exciting time to buy your first home!  Interest rates are very good, home prices are lower than they have been in the last few years and the selection is larger in the first time home buyer range than I have seen for quite a few years!  The home supply in Idaho Falls and Rigby is pretty good and it gives you options that have not been available for awhile.

Plus of course there is the First Time Home Buyers tax incentive.  That is up to $8,000, or 10% of the price of the home you purchase, whatever is less.  If you are married and make over $150,000 per year, it is reduced.  Additional information is available at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html.  You can have owned a home prior, if it has been at least 3 years.  You can check the above link or check with your accountant for more information.

It can also be a bit intimidating to buy your first home.  It is easy if we break it down into steps.  The first thing is to decide if this is a good time to buy a home in your life.  Are you going to be in this area for at least 3-5 years?  Do you have an income that you feel is dependable?  Is it what you want?  It is never a good time to buy Real Estate if you don’t want to!

So first you need to visit a lender of your choice.  You will want to have w-2′s available, 2 years of tax returns and at least 2 months of bank statements.  You don’t need these the very first visit, but it will be required later.

So who do you choose?  This is a very important decision as the lender can very much make this an easy or difficult process.  A good place to start may be your bank.  I really like lenders that do the “underwriting” (loan process) right there in the office.  That is called “direct underwriting” and means all the decisions on processing is done right there.  The advantage is that there is more control.  Your loan is not sitting on a desk in another State with hundreds of others in a pile.

Local lenders that I know do “direct underwriting” are: Interwest Mortgage, 208 525-8778 ask for Joni, Citizens Community Bank, ask for Jason, Bank of Idaho, Bank of Commerce and WestMark Credit Union.  There may be others, those are just the ones I work with a lot.

The lender will tell you if you are qualified to purchase a home and what price range.  If you can’t, ask what you need to do to get ready.  Don’t be discouraged, just figure out what needs done and start working on it.

When they give you that price range, say $100,000, ask what your payment will be.  If that is a lot higher than you are currently paying for rent, figure out if you really have the extra money.  If not, tell them what you need your payment to be and they will tell you what price range you need to stay in.  Just because someone wants to loan you the money, does not mean you should borrow that much.

Once you have your price range, you need to think about where you want to live.  Depending on your range, you may have a lot of options or not so many.  Idaho Falls has more homes available in all ranges than Shelley or Rigby, simply due to the size of the town.  If you are under $100,000, we need to look where we find the homes.  The higher you can go, the more options you have.

Once we have the price and the general area, we start looking.  Typically you will want to know if you need 3 bedrooms, or if 1 or 2 will work.  If you have to have 2 baths or if 1 will do.  You might also consider manufactured homes.  You get a lot more usable space and newer for the $130,000 and under range than you will with a stick built home.  I can talk to you about the pros and the cons.  Not all loans will work with Manufactured homes, RD (Rural Development) will not allow them.  But Conventional, VA, FHA and IHA all allow them with certain requirements.

Then we go look!  That is the fun part.  Typically we start with the Internet, see what looks good to you there.  Then you can drive by the areas.  Trust your “feel” on this one.  If the place feels good to you, it is a good sign.  If not, well you may want to rethink that home.

Once we find one that you like, I take it from there.  We write an offer, present it, maybe negotiate a little and keep going till we find one and get an accepted offer.  At that point, the lender will start their process.  It is important to get your lender all the information they ask for.

Then we do an inspection and may go through some more things on that point, depends on the house.  Once we are done with all that, we just wait till the closing date, sign papers, pay your money and the house is yours!

All that may sound complicated, but working with me and the right lender, makes it easy.  Just one step at a time.  And we keep everything on track!

If you want to start looking on the Internet, you can go to www.IdahoWelcomeHome.com.  You have two options.  You can just search by price range or area and get photo’s and descriptions of the homes.  Or you can register, set up an account and by doing that, you will get more detailed information and the addresses of the properties.  Your choice.  You can even set up to get auto notifications when new listings come up in your price range.  All under your control!

Call me 208 403-5800, email me lani@ida.net or just post comments or questions here.  I look forward to helping you find your dream home!