A College Student's Guide to Buying Real Estate

College students are used to living in less than pleasing accomodations. Afterall, many dorm rooms are made of little more than cinderblocks. Some students live in tiny tiny apartments with four or five people just trying to save on expenses and bills. Rarely however, until senior year at least, do students think about where they're going to live after they graduate. Aside from their newly attained degree, most do very little financially to prepare for it. Here are some ways to start preparing for owning your first piece of real estate after you graduate.

1. Save, save, save.
One of the biggest expenses in buying a home apartment or condo is getting the money for a down payment. If you start saving while you're in college, you'll be way ahead of your peers when you graduate. You'll be on your way to owning a home and a profitable investment. Save every penny that you can. Every time you feel the urge to buy something unnecessary consider your "home fund" and remind yourself that you are saving money for a better life after you graduate.

2. Look around.
Become familiar with your local real estate market. Take a look at listings in newspapers and on the internet. Take a look at realtor.com and ziprealty.com to get an idea of what your local market is like. Attend open houses and talk to realtors about what the trends are right now. You'll be to find out what concessions sellers are generally willing to make and what you will need to foot the bill for. You'll also be able to figure out which neighborhoods you might be interested in and which ones you want to stay away from. An understanding of the local neighborhoods will also give you a feeling for how the prices vary across your local area/city. Once you understand your local market you may want to start looking into areas that you might move to after you graduate.

3. Housewares.
Who says you have to wait to buy supplies until you actually have a house? Buying everything all at once can be very expensive. You don't realize all the things you need to live on and how expensive they are until you have to buy them all. You'll need cups, plates, bowls, silverware, serving utensils, glasses, barware, pots, pans, baking dishes, baking pans, spatulas, cleaning supplies (windex, draino, gloves, sponges, vacuum etc.), an iron and ironing board, curtains, furniture, decorations, and dozens of other little things. When you have a little extra money, pick up a set of plates or a set of glasses. When you actually buy your home you'll be well equipped and you won't have to spend so much money all at once. If you're like me, you'll start to get really excited about the prospect of owning your own home, furnishing it, decorating it, and living in it.

4. Learn the basics.
Before you ever buy a home you'll need to understand the details of home buying. You'll need to understand the basics of mortgages and how they work. You'll need to know what your credit is like and how much of a loan you can qualify for. Do some research and learn what you need to know. You can contact a local realtor or your bank to find out some of these basics. Most realtor's will be happy to get you up to speed because you are a potential client and with every client they make money. Get informed.