Beautifying Your Financial Picture

What Millennials Should Know About Buying Their First House

by Darryl Nguyen

If you are a millennial and you are thinking about buying a house for the first time, you may have a myriad of questions and concerns. It is common to become confused by the homebuying process, especially the first time you are trying to do it. However, there are some tips that you can use to help you make the first-time home buying process as easy as possible for you. Get to know a few of these tips so you can be sure you get the best possible first house for you.

Remember to Take Your Time

Buying your first home is not something that you can just jump into. While you are used to the quick and easy process of shopping online and getting what you want within almost no time, purchasing a house is a long play. A house is a major investment that you will have to live with for several years to come.

Be sure that you take your time when you are looking at houses. You need to find an option that is within your budget, that suits your needs and lifestyle, and that you can get a loan for. This all takes time, and while patience may not be a virtue in most things anymore, it is a necessity in home buying.

Make Sure Your Taxes Are in Order

One of the first and most important steps that you will need to take when you are interested in buying your first home is to make sure that your taxes are in proper order.

When you file your taxes, you have a few different incomes listed on your forms. There is your original net income or the amount of money you actually received from working, and there is your adjusted gross income, which is the amount you made after tax deductions.

While having more deductions can help you to pay less in taxes and maximize your tax refund, it can also greatly reduce your adjusted gross income. To a mortgage loan lender, this would imply that you have a lower income than you actually do and that you might not be able to pay back your mortgage loan if they offer you one.

If your AGI is low, you may want to hold off on applying for mortgage loans until after you have filed taxes for the current year. You can opt to take fewer deductions and increase your AGI by changing the way you do your taxes. While this can reduce or eliminate your tax refund, it can increase your chances of getting a mortgage loan.

Now that you know a few of the ways to make your first time buying a home go as well as possible, you can get out there and start looking for your ideal home. Contact a lender like General Electric Credit Union to learn more.

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