Do the research before buying new home

With the start of a new year, many people are working on their New Year’s resolutions. If you don’t already own a home, deciding to become a homeowner is possibly the best resolution you can make.

Ninety-six percent of homeowners are happy with their decision to own, and 74 percent say that owning a home is the best long-term investment they can make, according to a nationwide poll in 2012.

Here are some tips to help you make good decisions for your homeownership resolution.

First, figure out how much you can afford. This depends on factors including your credit rating, your current expenses, cost of a down payment and interest rates.

You will need a down payment up front and the money to make monthly payments for the mortgage principal and interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance and most likely, the homeowners’ association assessments.

Check your credit report carefully. Inaccurate information on your credit report could result in lenders offering you loans with higher-than-market interest rates or denying your application altogether.

Most homebuyers will need to get a mortgage to purchase a home. We are fortunate in Las Vegas to have many excellent mortgage lenders. A qualified lender can help potential buyers put together a budget and provide helpful advice.

Also, there are tax advantages to being a homeowner that can help offset costs. Depending on your specific situation, the closing costs and some other first year costs of purchasing a home are often deductible.

The mortgage interest deduction enables many homeowners to reduce their taxable income by the amount of interest paid on their mortgage loan each year. More than 70 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are able to claim the mortgage interest deduction in a given year.

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development website (portal.hud.gov) has a lot of information for homebuyers, including tools to help you figure out how much you can afford, how to shop for a loan, how to avoid predatory lending and an explanation of the settlement process.

Finally, research the neighborhoods where you are interested in buying. Visit areas you are interested in at different hours; talk to people who live there. Every neighborhood has some unique qualities. You’ll need to decide what’s important to you.

With careful and thorough planning, you will be moving into your new home before you know it.

Please send your questions or comments about new homes to monica@snhba.com.

We will try to answer as many questions as we can given space and time limitations and constraints. For more information about the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, visit www.snhba.com.

Rob McGibney, Las Vegas division president at KB Home, is the 2014 president of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, the largest and oldest trade organization representing the residential construction industry in Nevada.