A home is one of the largest purchases you will make in your lifetime. However, because it is such a large purchase, its expense is spread over a period of several decades to make it possible, but it can still be nice to have some extra help with payments. Here are some tips to help you get some assistance to budget for and finance your home purchase.

Look For Closing Assistance

A big part of the time it is the upfront costs associated with buying a property that make it such a difficult and expensive purchase. When you go to buy a house, you will need to pay for the closing costs to settle the purchase and complete all the tasks to make it legally yours. For example, you will need to pay for the title and recording of the property purchase, the loan origination costs and underwriter's fee, and the home inspection, just to name a few of the individual costs included in your closing expenses.

But if you can find a way to reduce some of these costs to help you more easily afford the purchase, you can keep some of your money to put into cleaning your home, hiring a moving company, and updating the interior paint colors, as examples. Talk to your real estate agent about asking for closing assistance from the seller in your purchase offer. The home seller has the ability to cover some of your closing costs in the purchase transaction, which is a concession on their part but helps them secure a buyer.

Consider a Low Down Payment 

Another useful thing is financing that has a low or no down payment requirement. You can get a bank mortgage that only requires you to put a small amount as a down payment for the loan. Keep in mind there may be other requirements due to the amount of equity in the purchase, so you might have to pay for mortgage insurance for a period of time until the equity in the home is a certain level. 

If you plan to look for a loan with low down payment requirements, talk to your lender about applying for this type of loan. You might also want to look for a home that offers seller financing through the current homeowner. Let your real estate agent know if this is in your home search criteria. They can complete a market sales search for seller-financed properties and you can negotiate with the seller of a home you want to buy for a no or low down payment. Contact a residential real estate agency today to get started.