Pam’s Home Buyer Tips Summerville SC

If you are thinking about buying a home in Summerville SC, here are some helpful home buyer tips Summerville SC to save you money whether or not this will be your first home you ever purchased.

1)  Take The Time Early In The Process To Talk With A Mortgage Loan Officer: this goes beyond getting a simple pre approval, which you need anyway. Actually discuss loan options to see what is available to you.

There are many different ways to put a mortgage together, and your loan officer might have some ideas to give you more options. For instance, it might be better to use less money for the down payment and use that money to pay off some old debts in order to get a lower interest rate. The earlier you have this discussion, the better.

 

2) Don’t Skip The Home Inspection: a home inspection will typically cost you about $300-$400. Skipping this can cost you a lot more. It is important to identify any current or potential issues before you purchase the home. Just because the home passes the eyeball test doesn’t mean there isn’t anything wrong with it.

 

Issues identified by a home inspection have to be addressed by the seller. If you skip the inspection, then you could be in for some unpleasant, expensive surprises down the road–once you have bought the house, any issues that come with it are your problem, and come out of your wallet.

 

3) Ask For A Home Warranty: have your real estate agent put into the contract a home warranty to be paid for by the sellers. This can be part of the negotiations, but often sellers will not have a problem providing a warranty. A warranty will cover any issues that pop up in the first year of home ownership–any issue that wasn’t pre-existing, which is another reason to have a home inspection performed.

 

4) Save Money On Your Property Taxes: In SC, there are two tax rates for homes: 6% for non-owner occupied homes (Investment Properties) and 4% for owner-occupied homes (Primary Residences). However, when you close on a home in SC, you are automatically assessed at the 6$ rate. All you have to do is get in touch with the local tax office to complete a simple form and they will change that rate to 4%. This will cut your tax bill in more than half, and keep you from overpaying taxes unnecessarily.

 

5) Shop Around For Insurance: Take some time to shop around for home owners insurance. See what an individual policy will cost versus a policy that is bundled with car insurance. Start with your auto insurance company first–after all, they would like to retain your business. But take some time to comparative shop and see what quotes you can find–you can save a lot of money this way.

 

6) Pay Off Your Mortgage Early: this trick is one of the easiest, most effective ways to cut years off your mortgage. Once a year write an additional mortgage check to your lender. However, do not write it for your exact mortgage payment amount–make it for slightly more or slightly less, just an amount different than your normal payment.

In the memo line of the check write “To be applied to principle only”. Keep the check number handy. You will want to follow up with the bank to ensure that they applied the full amount to only the principle. This can take a few years off your mortgage, and only needs to be done once a year. Plan to do this after you complete your taxes–thanks to owning a home you get a nice tax deduction, so when you get your refund, use it to pay your mortgage off early.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up in the comments. If you are thinking of buying a home in Summerville SC, then be sure to check out my website for more information about the home buying process.

You can sign up for a free list of homes to be emailed to you, there are Buyer Guides you can download, videos of home buyer tips Summerville SC, and much more. Go to Pam Marshall Realtor.