8 Steps in Buying A Home!
1. GET QUALIFIED:
-Before you start looking for homes in your area even on Zillow or Realtor.com you should speak to a lender or your bank about how much you qualify for. More often than not buyers tend to have an idea of how much they can afford and once they speak to a lender they find out that number can be severely less. Preemptively looking at homes in a higher price range than what is affordable can lead to high expectations. The difference in a price range of even 30K can really change the size or appearance of the home, so step one is finding out your “buying power” so you know what range to start looking in!
2. CONTACT A REALTOR:
- As a buyer, most of the time, you are not the one responsible for paying the commission to your Realtor. Let me say that again, YOU DON’T PAY FOR THE REALTOR so why would you not seek the help of a professional who is always on the look out for a home you may love and knows how to fill out all of the paper work and make it super easy for you! Realtors are professional negotiators and know how to save you money or get a better deal than you usually can get on your own. Click here to determine how to find the right Realtor for you.
3. LOOK FOR HOMES:
- This usually starts by looking for homes you like on Zillow or Realtor.com (or other home shopping websites). Your Realtor will also send you homes that they believe fits your needs, they have access to a back end system that shows all of the newly listed properties, homes that are just reduced (which may now be in your price range), and homes that are back on the market. Usually the search is a combination of the two, and when you see one you like time to take a look!
4. VIEWING THE HOMES:
-The best part, how exciting! Shopping for a house can be very fun but it also can be very overwhelming. There are usually several houses to look at and understanding what is important to you is crucial to make the process easiest for you. The more homes you look at isn’t always necessarily the best solution for narrowing down whats right for you. You may think “I want to make sure I see all of the options” but in reality if the key aspects of what you need aren’t there you may get more confused than anything. Viewing a few homes at a time is best. If you look at several at a time when you get back home to consider each option you may forget which bathroom belonged to which house, or wait what house was that bay window in again?!
5. WRITING AN OFFER:
-You found one woohoo! Time to write the offer. This part is typically taken care of by the Realtor and they will explain to you what the offer entails. Value is obviously important but other items such as help with closing costs, timelines, and closing dates are all considerable parts of the negotiation that can influence the sale. Once the offer is submitted, typically the seller will counter and once the terms are agreed on you are “under contract” or “in escrow”.
6. INSPECTION:
- Bringing in a licensed inspector to check out the home is recommended but not a necessity. Inspections are not performed on a pass/fail basis but more as a guideline of the what condition things are in or what needs to be changed for safety purposes. Typically if there are large concerns you can request the seller to address some of the items on the inspection report. Inspection are good for understanding what should be taken care of by you in the future, more ventilation in the attic, replace regular outlets with GFCI’s, things of that nature.
7.. APPRAISAL:
- The next steps after the inspection all have to do with the bank. You will be submitting the information they request (the quicker the better to stay within time lines). They will send out an appraiser to view the home and guarantee the value of the home matches the amount they are agreeing to give you.
8. CLOSING:
Once the appraisal comes back and all of your documents are supplied to the lender, the bank will issue a clear to close and a closing will be scheduled with the attorneys! The attorneys (& your Realtor) will tell you what you need to bring for the closing and on that day you will receive the keys and full rights to the home!
