6 Tips Every Homebuyer Should Follow

Looking to buy a home in a hot real estate market? You'll want to heed the advice of Boston homebuyers Alex and Leila. Below they share their tips for navigating homebuying in a crowded market.

1. Be Patient! If you want to live in a particular neighborhood, especially if it's a real estate hot spot, know that it may take time and be patient. "After having our son, Jack, in 2017, we knew we wanted him to grow up in the neighborhood. So we kept the house hunt focused to that one neighborhood, looking at around 30 houses over two years."

2. Tap Your Network "We read about Own Up in the local news, and a few of our friends who knew of them had great things to say. As we started the 2019 house hunt, we decided to contact Own Up to get pre-approved." A quick Google search never hurts, but if you have friends who have recently gone through the homebuying process, ask them for recommendations.

3. If you get rejected, try try again
"Looking for a home in our budget in our desired neighborhood felt like looking for a needle in a haystack. The market’s incredibly competitive, and we were house hunting since the winter of 2017. We put in 6 offers before getting one accepted. It was frustrating at times, particularly when we came in second on a number of offers. But we’re so glad that we ended up where we did. "

4. Work With People That Value Customer Service
"We loved working with Own Up. The pre-approval process was a breeze, and they really did help us find a bank that offered the best mortgage rate. As if that wasn’t enough, their expert team of mortgage advisors were a pleasure to work with, and they were incredibly good at only putting us in touch with local banks that offered the highest levels of customer service—we had a great experience working with the bank that Own Up introduced us to."

5. Don't Let Nerves Psych You Out
"Right when we got our offer accepted, we were very excited, but also nervous. Since we were first-time homebuyers, we thought it would be easiest to just move forward with a mortgage advisor that our realtor put us in touch with, and were very close to doing so. But at the last minute, we decided to take a deep breath, pause, and get in touch with Own Up before deciding on our mortgage. We are so glad we did!"

6. Shopping Around = More Money Saved
"Thanks to Own Up, we're saving about $150 per month on our loan—that adds up to $1,800 per year, or $54,000 over the course of a 30-year mortgage. We cannot thank Own Up enough for saving us so much money. After all, when you have a toddler, every dollar counts."