First Time Home Buyer, who do you talk to first, your lender or your realtor?

Purchasing your first home is a major accomplishment .. it’s also stressful, daunting, and overwhelming!  Knowing exactly where to start the journey to homeownership will allow you to optimize the most of your available time, money, and energy.  So first steps first... do you talk to a real estate agent or lender first? 

If you are a first-time homebuyer, you may not even have those names to fill in the blanks.  The best practice is to start with people you trust. Who in your life do you know who is a realtor, a lender, or maybe someone who just purchased a home and had a great experience?  These initial contacts might not be where you land, but picking their brain on why they liked working with their team can give you a good direction to start from. 

As a lender, I want to say everyone should first dial in their credit availability, payment budget, and optimal purchase price before looking at homes.  But sometimes people get excited... I get it. Looking at homes is a lot sexier than talking about financing.  But the last thing you want is to find the perfect home $25,000 outside of your budget.  You will also want to find a realtor who specializes in the type of home or location desired. Let's take Denver Metro for example. You would think anyone can go anywhere, but looking at horse property with a well and septic, versus condos downtown, versus multiunits in the suburbs can take a different skill and a focused search.   Talk to your agent openly about what is important to you to ensure there is a match. 

Getting pre-qualified or, better yet pre-approved is an essential step in your home purchasing journey. If you want to learn more about the differences, click on this link to a video where I share how to make your offer stand out from the crowd in this competitive market,  and definitely catch the section where I touch on my team's earnest money pre-approval guarantee.  It’s a game-changer. 

Your realtor and lender should be YOUR TEAM. Working together to get you to the finish line. Ask them questions and know that they are there to support your journey into homeownership. So, what’s the answer? Do you find your lender or your realtor first? The answer is either, but make sure you have the right CONVERSATIONS first. Making sure your team understands your clearly defined goals and guidelines  will set you up for success in your path to homeownership 

Want to talk more about your specific goals? give us a call. We’d be honored to go to work for you. 

Nicole Rueth with the Rueth Team.