There are a few mistakes that many first-time home buyers make. Here are three of the most common mistakes and how you can avoid them when purchasing your first Thomasville home.

Mistake #1: Assuming your credit is good.
The information in your credit report determines whether you can get a loan — and how much interest you will have to pay – so it pays to be certain your credit reports are accurate.

Check your credit reports for free from all three credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to make sure everything is correct. If you find errors, contact both the credit reporting company and the information provider (the person, company or organization that provided information about you to a credit reporting company) involved in the errors and ask them to fix the credit report errors.

Mistake #2: Getting pre-qualified, not pre-approved, for a loan.
It's far better to be pre-approved for a loan than to be pre-qualified. Here’s why…

With pre-qualification, your lender does a preliminary evaluation of your ability to pay for a home and gives an estimate of the mortgage amount they’ll give you. The lender does not verify the information you provide.

With pre-approval, your lender verifies your income, assets, debts and credit history. They provide you with written confirmation of the mortgage amount for which you’re approved. That written confirmation demonstrates to the seller that you are committed to buying; this can give you an advantage over other buyers.

Mistake #3: Allowing emotions to influence your decisions.
Buying a home is an investment. It needs to be treated as any other investment. You don't buy stocks because they are pretty and you shouldn't pick your Thomasville home that way either. Make sure the home you buy fits your needs and allows you room to grow over the next few years. As with any sound investment, time is the key to a good return.

If you are a first-time home buyer, we would be happy to help you find (and get the best price for) your first Thomasville home. Give First Thomasville Realty a call today at 229-226-6515 or email me at info@FTRealty.com .

Halloween is just around the corner, but if you’re looking at the homes for sale in Thomasville, it’s probably the first-time buyer fears that have your knees shaking. Hey, buying a house seems like such a final thing, so that’s understandable. It could be the biggest change in your life – EVER!

Now that I’ve thrown some scary thoughts your way, let’s take a turn at facing those first-time buyer fears.

• Am I crazy? No, you’re a first-time buyer. You may alternate between periods of paranoia, confidence, nervousness and calm, but you aren’t crazy to want to buy one of the homes for sale in Thomasville.

• Is this really the right time to buy a house? The best way to answer this question is with a few questions. Do you have good credit? Do you have a decent job? If the answers to these questions are “yes,” then there’s never a bad time to buy the right house. Especially now, with tons of inventory, record low interest rates and the $8000 tax credit.

• What if I don’t pick the right neighborhood? What if I buy, move in, hate it, and then can’t turn around and sell the house? An understandable fear; one of the most common horror stories is moving into the perfect house, right next to the neighbor from the Black Lagoon. This is why it’s imperative to do your research (or, at the very least, tell your real estate agent exactly what kind of neighborhood you want). With the Internet, you can find out everything from the crime rate of an area to the quality of the schools.

• What if I lose my job? I won’t say that’s not a possibility. However, keep in mind that you have the same question when you’re renting. The difference is that if you can’t pay the rent, you can be evicted within days, depending on where you currently live. While some lenders may do the same, most lenders don’t want to foreclose and are willing to work with you to keep you in the home and making your payments. In addition, many are willing to wait for at least two months of nonpayment before starting the foreclosure process.

If you’ve been a renter all your life and are looking at the homes for sale in Thomasville, take a deep breath. Yes, it’s scary and yes, the worries can give you worse nightmares than the freakiest Halloween you’ve ever experienced. However, remember what made you decide to start looking in the first place. If those reasons still exist, go for it!

If you’re looking for that perfect, affordable home, we can make the whole process less scary and fear free. Call First Thomasville Realty at 229-226-6515 or email us at info@FTRealty.com for more information.