The Process of Buying a Home
So, you’ve decided you want to buy a home. Now what? Buying a home is a big deal, and it’s not something that most people do many times during their lifetime. That being the case, a lot of questions can arise about what the process is and what you need to do. We are here to help and we sot the steps you’ll need to follow to help make this process a smooth one.
- Find a Realtor. Try to find a Realtor who knows the area well. Make sure the Realtor is a good fit for your specific needs. (If you’re a first time buyer, if you want to down size, if you’re looking for land, water front, etc.)
- Find a lender and see what you can be approved for. This will help greatly in narrowing down your search and also make sure you don’t fall in love with a home you can’t afford. Also, you don’t need to get a loan for an amount just because you’ve been approved for it. Decide what you really need… How many rooms do you need? How much land? Location?
- Get a pre-qualification letter from a lender. You typically need this if you are going to make an offer on a home.
- Begin looking at homes with your Realtor. Many people start this search online and then go and see the ones that they are really interested in. Your Realtor can help find homes based on your specifications.
- Make an offer – You will need your pre-qualification letter and the deposit. Have your Realtor help, this is what they’re there for.
- Response from Seller with either counter offer or acceptance.
- Apply for a loan – As soon as your offer is accepted, you can apply for a loan. You can go to the lender you got the pre-qualification letter from.
- Open Escrow – this essentially means, starting the closing process on the property. Order inspections, hand over deposit, etc.
- Schedule Inspections and Present Repair Addendum – If you find things in the inspection that need to be fixed, you’ll need to present a repair addendum. Look at what you think you can do yourself and what you think the sellers need to take care of.
- Ensure all repairs have been made by the completion date and wait for the appraisal.
- Sign all loan documentation
- Schedule closing – this is where you’ll sign all of the remaining documents. There will be a lot of paper work.
- Loan is funded – once all the signing is finished, the lender will fund the loan. Then you get the keys and the home is yours!
Now it’s time to celebrate and move in!
