Six tips for first-time homebuyers

One of the biggest and perhaps most important decisions in life is buying your own place. Home ownership is a huge step up from renting or staying with parents or in-laws. It's exciting but also overwhelming to go through the process of finding the right property, inspecting it, securing financing, and closing on the purchase. Here are some tips to ease your home buying experience and make your first home a blessing, not a financial burden.

Check your finances

Before you go house-hunting, do a serious audit of your finances. Real estate transactions always involve more than just the price tag. Even if you plan to apply for a housing loan, you have to be ready with the down payment (or equity). Apart from this, there are other upfront costs like transfer fees and taxes, or even payment of move-in fees that should be considered...