Buying a home for the first time can often be scary, stressful and overwhelming. People are often forced to deal with terms and contracts which they do not see in their everyday life and deal with a dollar amount much larger than their average spending.

Many people are not prepared, and for this reason, Khrystye Earle leads seminars for first-time home buyers and now is also licensed as a one-on-one home buying counselor. The classes are offered once every month throughout eastern Montana and take first time home buyers through all the bumps, stresses and often overlooked yet important details of buying a home.

"For each class," Earle explains, "We go through the entire home buying process and try to have a realtor, banker and USDA officer to speak as guests."

Submitted Khrystye Earle, left, goes through policies with Jamie Zumbuhl.

The USDA officer will speak about the different types of loans and explain at which time and instance each one is needed. The banker speaks about a heavier load including the Montana Board of Housing, the different types of loans available and actually takes members of the class through the loan application. Afterward there is a question and answer session where future home buyers can ask all of their questions without feeling undereducated or like they should already know the answer.

The realtor then talks to the class about the different types of agents and also takes the class step by step through the buy-sell contract, which is one of the biggest contracts they will ever sign. The realtor will also talk to the class of the importance of having a home inspection before anything is signed or spent on the home.

"It's like having a mechanic look at a car before you purchase it," Earle said. "This is especially important in this area since there are so many older homes."

The other speaker usually is an insurance agent.

"The insurance agent makes it clear to the class what exactly their money is paying for in each of the different plans," Earle said.

The class also includes a two-hour session where Earle goes over budget and credit reports. This is often such a huge struggle for people that Earle is now very pleased to be able to counsel home buyers one-on-one about credit reports and budgeting.

People often get into a bind with their credit and get bad credit reports. Earle is there to help them.

"I enjoy my job because I'm helping people become successful by fulfilling their dreams of buying a house," Earle says. "The biggest success I've had, though, is that now people are coming to us because they are interested and not because the Montana Board of Housing requires it of them."

When people come to her during this pre-purchasing time, Earle has the benefit of helping them navigate successfully around the pitfalls, which is much more pleasant for her and the home buyers than trying to get out of the pit.

The next eight-hour home buying course that Earle is offering is on Jan. 12 in Culbertson at their senior citizen center. If you are thinking of buying a house, it might be good for you to go before you start the process so you will be better equipped.

reporter@sidneyherald.com