2023 Home Buying Guide from Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Home Loans
Let’s face it, New Year’s Resolutions are tough to keep when you live on the Gulf Coast!
King Cakes are everywhere by January 6th. Then parades. Then crawfish season and festivals, the list goes on and on.
If “buying a home” was one of the items on your New Year’s Resolution list, you may find not much has changed since the calendar flipped to 2023.
Interest rates haven’t gone back down to 2 or 3%, and other market conditions like inventory and insurance haven’t changed much either.
So, does that mean you should wait to buy a home? Or can you still get the home you want in 2023?
Your Home Buying Plan for 2023
We believe there’s no time like the present to make your dreams a reality. In that spirit, here are steps you can take to achieve your goal of buying a home in 2023:
Step 1: Meet With Our Lenders
The first step in the process is to meet with one of our lenders at a location near you so that you can begin to get facts rather than relying on information floating around the internet.
Our team will take the time to listen to your goals, help you gather all the necessary information you need, and guide you through the process of getting pre-qualified for a home loan.
Step 2: Evaluate All Your Lending Options
During the process, our team will go over your different options for a home loan. Loan programs are continually being updated, and our lenders will make sure you have the most current information about programs that may be of benefit to you.
Our lenders will walk you through everything from first-time homebuyer loan options to construction loans, bank statement loans, condo loans, and everything in between!
Step 3: Negotiate Your Interest Rate
From a historical perspective, today’s market rates are still quite attractive.
Image credit: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US
And while the historic lows of the last few years may not be available today, you may still be in a position to negotiate a great rate on a home loan.
Make sure to ask our team about a 2-1 Buydown option. A 2/1 buydown program is a financing option that offers a lower interest rate for the first two years of your mortgage term.
When you choose this program, your interest rate will be 2% lower in the first year of your mortgage and 1% lower in the second year. As the mortgage term enters its third year, the mortgage rate will increase to the original rate on the loan.
Step 4: Leverage Our Experience
There’s no doubt about it! Experience matters when it comes to making sure you have a great experience getting a home loan.
Our mortgage lenders and entire support team are here to share our extensive knowledge and experience with you about everything from the local markets to which loan product may make the most sense for you.
Let our experience be your guide, to work towards realizing your homeownership dream. (or something like that, we cannot guarantee that we will get them in the home the really want before they know it.