Buying Your First Home

In short, when it’s the right time for you. Don’t try to time the market—it’s virtually impossible to time all the variables just right. Before even entertaining the idea of buying a home, ask yourself these important questions:

• Do I plan to stay in a house for at least the next 3-5 years?
• Would I be able to afford a mortgage payment?
• Do I have enough money saved up for a down payment?
• Can I afford future maintenance?
• Do I have a stable job?

If you can answer “yes” now (or in the near future) to these questions, you’re likely ready to buy a home.

Creating a simple monthly budget will help determine if you’d have enough money left over after expenses to afford home ownership. After determining how much of a house payment you can afford, it’s time to find out how much house you can afford. This is where upkeep expenses, down payment, your income, etc., come into play. The last thing you want to do is stretch yourself thin by going after the most expensive home your budget will allow. A mortgage calculator is a nice supplementary tool by giving you a rough estimate of how much you can spend on a house. To get the full picture of homeownership expenses, our seasoned SELCO Mortgage Loan Officers will be able to walk you through them step by step. Our loan officers also hold periodic homebuying webinars. Visit selco.org/events to see when the next one is on the schedule. And if you are unable to attend a webinar, Fannie Mae offers a free online course. 

Your first step is to contact a SELCO Mortgage Loan Officer. Averaging 20 years in the business, our loan officers have the experience and expertise to help you navigate the entire mortgage process. 

Preapproval is a very important first step in buying a house. A preapproval lets realtors and sellers know you’re qualified to buy a house while providing an estimate of how much you can borrow based on your income, employment, credit, and bank account information. A SELCO Loan Officer can walk you through everything you’ll need to get preapproved, including pulling your credit, calculating your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, and letting you know how much home you can afford and the best loan option to purchase a home in that price range. A SELCO Mortgage preapproval is good for 90 days.  

You’ll be asked to verify your finances during the preapproval process. To prepare, you can create a home folder that contains all the documents you’ll need to provide to a SELCO Loan Officer. Here are a few documents you’ll need (a loan officer will provide a full list for you):

• Paystubs from at least the past month
• Tax returns, including W-2’s, from the past two years
• Bank statements (checking, savings, money markets, etc.) from the past 2-3 months
• Employment information, including contact information of employers from the past two years
• Business records if self-employed