Making Your Home Purchase in Florida Easy

There is a certain amount of anticipation and anxiety when buying a home for the first time in Florida. Buying a home is the largest financial decision most people will make in their lives. When the decision to buy is made the buyer will have a certain amount of questions that they will need to ask. Having the right person and information available to you will help keep the anxiety to a minimum. Here are some things that you will want to know as a first time home buyer in Florida. 

Making Your Home Purchase in Florida Easy

As a first-time homebuyer, you will want to know the steps or important information that will make the process easy for you to buy the home. 

Gathering of Finances

This first step is rather large. Most homebuyers struggle with coming up with the 20 percent down that traditional lenders like to see before they issue a loan to help you buy a home. In addition to the down payment, you will also need to have money set aside for closing costs, appraisals and application fees. 

One fee that you will need to pay for in the traditional inspection fee. In Florida, a home inspection must be done on the property before it can be sold. The home inspection is going to tell if there was water damage from any hurricanes or sinkhole issues. If the home is located on a waterway, then the inspection will include the seawall. Florida's seawalls can fail and are expensive to replace.

Know Your Tax Rights 

The state of Florida requires the home buyer to pay the taxes a year ahead of time when they purchase the home. This is a standard practice in all cases to make sure that the taxes are being paid. Once the taxes are paid you can take advantage of paying them early. By doing so you can receive a percentage off the final tax bill. All taxes on your home are due November 1st and have the following discounts when paid early:

• 4 percent discount if paid by November.
• 3 percent discount if paid by December.
• 2 percent discount if paid by January.
• 1 percent discount if paid by February.

Check for a Lien on the Home

Contractors are a major part of living in Florida. Many of the small businesses in Florida are contractors in business for themselves. There are contractors for just about every type of service that you can think of. Once in a while a contractor will not be paid for work done on a home, so they end up putting a lien on the home. This gives the contractor the peace of mind that they will finally be paid once the home is sold. Sellers are required to pay the lien before the home be sold. However, if they are out of money, you could be kept from buying the home until the lien is settled.

Stay Out of the Bad Flood Zone

Every home in Florida sits in a flood zone. But many homes are in areas where flooding is terrible. Homeowners are required to purchase flood insurance if they have a loan on the home. Buy a home in a good flood zone in order to keep your premium below $1,000.