Steps To Buying Your Home

Define your needs
Before you go house hunting, come up with a list of what you desire your home to have, what not to have and the location of where the house should be.  Think about the school district the home will be in if you have children.  Are you looking for a newer home or an older home?  The more details about the house you are looking for will give the real estate agent a better idea of what to search for.

Get prequalified or preapproved
Getting prequalified or preapproved helps the real estate agent  know what price range you can buy in.  It will also let the seller know that you are able to purchase the house with minimal financial obstacles to overcome.  Your agent can help you by referring you to a mortgage lender if you don’t have one already.

Let the house hunting begin
The home search can get a little overwhelming sometimes but your real estate agent can help with this process.  Your real estate agent can find out any negative things about the house and help determine whether the house has potential to be your next home.  Your agent will set up home tours and answer any questions you may have about the house.  Your agent will also look for any new listings that come to the market.  You can also do some searching on your own using the search feature on our web site as well as using the mobile app provided on our web site.  Some homes are found by agent-to-agent referrals so it’s important to keep in touch with your real estate agent.

Make an offer
Once you find the home you’ve been searching for, it’s time to make an offer.  Your real estate agent can guide you through the process and help make a fair offer on the house.  The agent will write up a contract with the terms of the offer to provide to the seller’s agent or the seller if it is a For Sale By Owner (FSBO).  If the seller accepts the offer the contract will be execute and become binding.  If the seller makes a counter offer you will have to decide whether to accept the seller’s offer or start the negotiation process.  In the negotiation process your agent will help answer any questions and carefully look through the contract and explain everything to you.

Strike a deal
After the offer is accepted and the contract becomes binding it is time to start the process of getting the house appraised, inspected and surveyed if needed.  If an option period is negotiated it is imperative to get the house inspected before the option expires.  This will allow the buyer to look at the inspection and ask for any repairs that are needed and re-negotiate if necessary.  During this process your real estate agent can provide vital recommendations and negotiation advice.

Prepare for the closing
When all the negotiations are accepted your real estate agent will take the contract to the title company and schedule the service company for the inspection,  appraisal and survey and keep track of the process to make sure it gets done in a timely matter.  If a home warranty is negotiated in the contract, your real estate agent will shop for the home warranty.  The agent will also keep in touch with the title company to make sure all the contracts will be ready to be signed during the closing.  A final walk through of the home is recommended to make sure all repairs are completed and nothing

Close the deal
The final step is signing the contracts to “close” on your new home.  Your lender will provide a closing cost statement that summarizes all the costs associated with the closing ahead of the closing date.  You may have to bring funds to the closing in a form of cashier’s check or money order.  Your real estate agent will be with you during the closing process to answer any questions and review the documents with you. Congratulations on your new home!