Utah Home Tour Tips: Budget and Mortgage, Appliances, Remodels
Within the majority of homebuying situations, multiple things are happening at once. Most buyers will be touring homes at the same time as they’re working with their loan officer and mortgage lender on basic approval and related areas, for instance, and while these are certainly two distinctly different parts of the process, they tend to cross over in some basic ways.
At Altius Mortgage and our partners at Mortgage Ogden, we’re here to help with comprehensive mortgage loan services, from standard home loans to first-time buyer programs, mortgage refinancing and many others for Utah clients. However, our loan officers are not limited to their expertise in the mortgage realm alone, and we often serve as basic advisors and confidants to our clients in several areas, including how their home tours may occasionally interact with our roles. For instance, if you’re considering touring a home that’s above your originally-planned budget, your loan officer will work with you to obtain a pre-approval letter at this higher range if you decide to make an offer on the home.
What are some general themes you should be keeping in mind when it comes to touring homes? This two-part blog series will go over several.
Price and Budget
Your overall budget will obviously be a significant factor here, as will the listed price of any home you’re touring or considering. This is one major theme you’ll have a chance to evaluate ahead of time through online listings and other resources, though as professionals in the industry will tell you, you can never truly know a home’s quality until you see it in person.
One major tip here: Be sure to budget for more than just your mortgage. You need additional funds for closing costs, long-term maintenance and any potential emergencies that come up, and sapping your entire savings just to get the home will leave you in a bad spot financially.
Quality and Age of Appliances
Another important factor in any home tour is the quality and age of the major appliances that will be remaining in the home, such as the dishwasher, various plumbing fixtures, and possibly several others. If all the major fixtures are only a few years old, you can be confident knowing they won’t need replacement anytime soon; if there are older items, however, you may have to budget for replacements or repairs within the next couple years.
Remodeling Qualities or Capabilities
For many buyers, the home’s remodeling capability will be a huge factor, and something you’re looking at closely during a home tour. Not only should you be considering this from a budgetary standpoint, you should also be looking for simple areas or components that can be easily remodeled or upgraded to meet your eventual goals. Is there some extra room in your kitchen that might allow for an island upgrade, for instance? Or perhaps there’s a certain wall in the home that you feel you could tear down to create a more open space. The potential themes here are limitless, but you need to be able to spot them.
For more on what to be looking for as you tour homes and obtain a mortgage loan, or to learn about any of our mortgage rates or related services in Utah, speak to the staff at Altius Mortgage and our partners at Mortgage Ogden today.
