How to Prepare for Home Buying Season

Valerie Sciacca
Three people sitting at a table looking at paperwork

Love is in the air this February with Valentine’s Day right around the corner. Our greatest hope for you is a home you can afford to love for years to come. Spring is commonly known as home buying season, which makes February the perfect time to start preparing for your home love match! We have some tips to help you prepare so you can get those butterflies out of your belly and use your head to make the best choice for you.

Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
Mortgage pre-approval is an important step in the home buying process because it will give you an idea of what you might be able to spend to buy a home. A pre-approval letter from a lender tells sellers that your offer is serious. You can get the 411 on mortgage pre-approval from our Mortgage Pre-Approval 101 Home Matters blog. 

Find a Real Estate Agent
A real estate agent is a vital partner in your journey to home ownership. It’s standard practice for the seller to cover the commission for both the seller’s agent and buyer’s agent, which means home buyers usually get all the benefits of using a real estate agent for free! You can learn more about the cost of using a real estate agent here and you can find an Agency-preferred real estate agent near you on our website. 

Talk to a Housing Counselor
A housing counselor can be invaluable in helping first-time home buyers navigate the home buying process. They will review your financial health including your credit score and debt-to-income ratio, as well as your monthly income and expenses, to provide home buying recommendations to you. You can find a local HUD-approved housing counselor online. 

Check for Home Buyer Assistance Programs
There are an array of first-time home buyer programs that can help make buying a home more affordable, including our NC Home Advantage suite of mortgage products! For example, The NC 1st Home Advantage Down Payment offers $15,000 in down payment assistance for eligible first-time buyers and military veterans. To see all the ways we help make home ownership possible for North Carolinians, visit our website.

Now that you have the tools to start preparing for home buying season, it’s time to put on your love goggles and find the house you can make into a home of your own!

Press &
Investors

North Carolina Housing Finance Agency / 3508 Bush Street / Raleigh, NC 27609 / 919-877-5700

Disclaimer (please scroll and read, then proceed below)

All information contained on the following Web pages is obtained from the Agency’s books and records, and is believed to be accurate and reliable. Reference should be made to the official statement and operative documents of each series of bonds referred to herein for complete information on that issue. Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, this information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind and no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made, nor should any be inferred, as to the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of this information. Under no circumstances shall North Carolina Housing Finance Agency have any liability to any person or entity for (a) any loss or damage in whole or part caused by, resulting from, or relating to any error (on account of neglect or otherwise) or other circumstance involved in procuring, collecting, compiling, interpreting, analyzing, editing, transcribing, transmitting, communicating or delivering this information, or (b) any direct, indirect, special, consequential, or incidental damages whatsoever, even if North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is advised in advance of the possibility of such damages, resulting from the use of, or inability to use, any such information. This information relates to bond issues of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency that have been sold and distributed in underwritten public offerings described in the related official statements. Each viewer of the aforementioned information acknowledges that (i) the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is not now by this document offering any bonds or other securities, nor soliciting an offer to buy any securities, (ii) this information is not to be construed as any description of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency-such offerings are only made pursuant to the appropriate official statements of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, (iii) the information provided speaks only as of the date thereof and the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency has not in any way undertaken to update such information, and (iv) no representation is made as to the propriety or legality of any secondary market trading of the bonds or other securities of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency by anyone in any jurisdiction. The financial condition of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency may have changed since the date this information was prepared.

© NCHFA 2023. All rights reserved. View Our Privacy Policy and Our Terms and Conditions.