When you’re buying your first home in the Metro-Detroit area, you don’t need to leave everything your Michigan mortgage lender and your Metro-Detroit real estate agent.  Truth be told, you shouldn’t anyway.  You should be doing your fair share of research and homework to ensure that you’re happy with the home you buy.

Once you get pre-approval for your mortgage, you’ve got a limited amount of time to choose the right home.  Make the best use of that time by researching the important things and worrying less about whether or not one home is more attractive than another.

Here’s a list of tips for first-time home buyers to help you streamline your housing search.

1. Know the Prices

You should check the selling prices of other homes within the local market to see what you can expect to pay for a home.  It’s also possible to do a quick search through MLS listings by using sites such as the National Association of Realtors.

2. Know your Limits

Talking to a Michigan mortgage lender will give you insight into what you can afford and your financial limits.  You can also do this on your own before taking the more paperwork-heavy route by using a mortgage calculator.  This can help you determine what your payment might be and the maximum you should spend on a home.

3. Get All the Costs

Since buying a home is more than just a mortgage payment, be realistic about what you expect to pay each month.  This includes your taxes as well as homeowners insurance.  Depending on where you buy your home, insurance and taxes could significantly increase your monthly housing obligation beyond what you can afford.

4. Closing Costs on Home Purchases

The upfront costs of settling on the right home should never be overlooked.  Your closing costs will typically include the origination fees charged by the lender, title and settlement fees, taxes, prepaid items including homeowners insurance and homeowners association gees.  Bankrate.com offers a closing cost survey that can show you the average closing costs of homes in Michigan.

5. Examining your Overall Budget

Ideally you want to know how much you can afford when you want to buy a house.  Look over your budget for the last year as well as what you forecast for the next year.  You need to consider how a home fits into that budget.  Fannie Mae recommends that buyers don’t spend more than 28% of their income on housing costs.  If you exceed 30% there’s a good chance you’ll suffer financially in other areas.