Buying a home in Dallas is one of the best investments you can make, especially if yoursquo;re currently renting. The image to the right is from Charlotte, NC based Real Estate Brokerage, uphomes. Its a great real estate quote from T Harv Eker: Its no secret that Buying a home can be an absolute disaster as well, thats why youll want to pay close attention to the tips in this article. The information is coming from a local Dallas Realtor who has seen the good and the bad. Without further ado, here are 7 things to know before buying a home in Dallas: Plan Ahead Downpayment Mortgage Options Neighborhoods + Location School Districts Commute to Work Choosing a Realtor nbsp; Plan Ahead Whether youre buying a home in Dallas or in Charlotte,nbsp; a first time home buyer or buying a home for the tenth time, youll want to make sure you are planning ahead. Planning ahead when buying a home makes the entire process far less stressful and the end result is a much more successful home purchase. If youre reading this article youre already doing a great job preparing yourself for a successful home purchase. One of the best ways to plan to buy a home in Dallas is to plan ahead. Writing down a list of your top priorities in a home is strongly encouraged. This will help you determine what is most important and what you can live without. Too often we find buyers shopping between totally different areas or totally different types of homes (townhomes, condos, single family) and this typically means they dont have a plan/havent prioritized. These are things you need to decide on before shopping for houses because all buyers will eventually have to prioritize before they settle on a home.nbsp; Unless you are doing a full, custom build and have a very large budget, there will ultimately be items you will have to live without and sacrifice on your purchase.nbsp; It is best to already have a good idea (and acceptance) of the items you can drop from your must haves. Downpayment Long gone are the days of needing 20 down to buy a home. These days we have mortgage options in Dallas that will allow you to buy a home with as little as 0 to 3.5 down, assuming you qualify.nbsp; The 0 loan is the VA loan and the 3.5 is an FHA loan.nbsp; If youd like to learn more about what your options feel free to reach out, we are happy to chat with you and will put you in touch with one of our top mortgage lenders. Keep in mind the money you invest in a home isnbsp;similar to having a forced savings account. If younbsp;are one of the fortunate ones who can put down 20 and not pay mortgage insurancenbsp;it makes a lot of financial sensenbsp;to do so. This can save you thousands of dollars a year in mortgage insurance costs.nbsp; If you dont have 20 for a downpayment, dont worry. Buying a home still makes a lot of financial sense with these historically low-interest rates, even when paying mortgage insurance. Mortgage Options Aside from your downpayment, you will have a wide variety of mortgage options available to you. Every lender will have different programs so youll want to make sure you chat with several to find what your best options are. We recommend talking to a minimum of three different mortgage lenders when buying a home because it will help ensure you are receivingnbsp;a good deal on your mortgage. Figuring out how much house you can afford is an important step in the home buying process. You likely dont want to max yourself out or overstretch yourself financially just because you love the home. Find a monthly payment that youre comfortable with and go from there Neighborhoods + Location When you begin looking at homes for sale in Dallas, make sure you know what area, neighborhood and location you want to be in first. You want to choose a location BEFORE you buy a home because there is nothing more important than the location of the home you buy. When it comes to appreciation, youll want to try and spot the desirable areas before they are outside of your price range.nbsp; For a list of the best neighborhoods in Dallas - Click Here. School Districts You may have kids and you may not, but know that school districts have a large impact on home resale values when it comes time to sell. If good school districts in Dallas are a priority for you, youllnbsp;want to be sure to check out our blog article about the best School Districts in Dallas - Fort Worth. Commute to Work Time is the most valuable asset in the world, you dont want to spend your entire day commuting back and forth to work. Too often folks will overlook their work commute to settle on a home they love because its their dream home. Does your dream home include a 75-minute drive to work in the morning and a 75-minute drive home in the afternoon? Thats 150 minutes per day spent commuting and for someone who works 5 days a week that equates to 12.5 hours per week, or 27 days a year. Buying a home near the places you go the most will allow you to spend more of your time doing the things you love, whether its spending time with family or watching the latest netflixnbsp;shows.nbsp; Moral of the story, time is valuable, dont spend it commuting Choosing a Realtor One of the most important decisions you will make is choosing a Realtor. A lot of folks opt to work with friends or acquaintances and dont give a second look to the persons resume or real estate knowledge. The Realtor you choose will impact the home you end up in, remember that the next time you go looking for a Realtor.nbsp; See this great article on how to find the best Realtor. A lot of times sellers will ask me why their home isnt worth as much as they think and itsnbsp;typicallynbsp;because the Realtor they worked with didnt warn them against buying the most expensive home in the neighborhood OR buying a home on the main road with a steep driveway. Often times I have seen people change their Realtor while in the process of buying a home. The reasons someone switches Realtors are usually around the particular Realtors motivation and/or experience.nbsp; When buying a home in Dallas you want a local Realtor whos going to work hard, understands the area and most importantly one you can trust to help you make a great decision