11 Steps to Buying a Home
THE STEPS TO BEING SUCCESSFUL IN BUYING A HOME
- Pick out someone to work with: They should be your beacon for understanding different parts of the buying process, and explaining options available to you. They will also help you find the property.
- Find a lender and get approved for the financing making sure you understand the financial issues that need to be addressed in the contract, such as seller paid concessions. Your realtor should be heavily involved in helping you understand this information.
- From the lender get a GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE, which lists the individual costs associated with the financing of your home? It’s the estimated bill for buying a home of that value, with that interest rate and those costs for doing it. Go over it with your agent.
- Get on the internet and your agents MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and start looking for a home. It may take anywhere from 5 to 30 homes, but could be the one you have already found. Still use the agent to buy. What you don’t know can cost you a bundle, and usually does.
- Write the contract based on the sold index, days on the market and the financing requirements. A contract is considered accepted when both the seller and the buyer have signed off on the acceptance of the terms. Your agent should be heavily involved in this process.
- Have the house inspected. The contract addresses municipal and gas inspections and usually they are the responsibility of the seller. Buyers should always have a whole house and termite (required) and possibly radon and any other inspection they may wish to satisfy for themselves the condition of the property. Your agent should be involved in this process.
- Finish the formal application with the lender and collect all the rest of the data that they need.
- Renegotiate with the seller the condition of the property if necessary. Be careful with this step. Your agent should be involved with providing common standards practices.
- Wait for the process to go its merry way in collecting verifications, appraisal, title, survey and inspections to move to completion.
- Go on a final walk-thru to make sure the property is in the same condition it was at the time of the contract being written and that any repairs that needed to be done have in fact been done. Contact and transfer the utilities into your name.
- Go to the closing with a cashiers check made out to the title company if you are to bring funds, your driver’s license, and any documents anyone may still want from you. The closing is finished when the loan is funded which means money has changed hands. It may take a couple hours so plan your closing no later than 1pm if you can so that you get possession of the property that day. If it does not fund till the next day you have to wait till then to get possession of the property.