BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Home ownership is often considered as the ‘American Dream’.
“Having a home really does set you up for the future,” said Jenna Griffin, a building consultant.
Griffin and her husband started the process of purchasing their first home over a year, but it’s been far from easy.
“I got outbid of a home maybe 7 times, and it was so discouraging that I just wanted to quit.”
That’s the reality for some people across the Baton Rouge area as they fight to buy a home amid a competitive and slim market.
To help make the process easier for first-time homebuyers, Manuel Builders hosted a free seminar on Tuesday, Aug. 8, to help people get started on the process.
“It can be a little bit scary because you’re talking about credit, income, debt, you got to go through all your paths because it’s on your credit report. So, it can be a little daunting of a task for some people, so we try to take it slowly and walk people through it,” said Corey Burgess, a loan officer at Central Mortgage.
Experts shared tips on sticking to your budget and what the process of buying a home will be like.
Here are a few of the other initial tips that were shared:
- Location: choose a location based on your priorities
- Size and layout: prioritize your current and future needs
- Deceiving looks: inspect the home to find hidden problems
- Budget: stay on a budget to avoid overspending
- Future: think about the home’s future resale value
“Slow it down and have a talk with an experience lender and figure out what you can qualify for is the best starting point,” said Burgess.
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