Attention Home Buyers:
Now You Can Get Instant Access to:
The cheat sheet that shows you the Steps to Home Buying
While many of these steps seem simple they can determine a good outcome that saves you time and possibly hassle in your journey to buy. My blog about the FAQs when buying a home will give you more details on each of these points.
- Deciding if home buying is right for you at this time. Once that decision is made:
- Determine your price range.
- Determine the location you want to live. That is always a personal preference.
- Get connected with either a lender or an agent. If you know a good lender, you can start there. If not, the majority of agents have lenders that they can refer to you.
- Your lender can discuss the different types of loans that are available for your particular needs.
- This area has some loan programs available that are not available in larger cities.
- Based upon if you already have a pre-approval, contact a Realtor® to start your search. If you are searching the web, you may have an idea of homes you are interested in. Contacting an agent from that specific home’s area will give you an edge as they are familiar with the area and may have already seen those homes. If you choose a Realtor® from one of the national websites you may very possibly not get a local area agent as the agents pay to be on all those websites.
- A Realtor ® can make your search and the entire process of buying much simpler than trying to buy a home by yourself. They have access to all the homes in the MLS and can deal with For Sale By Owners on your behalf also. Your agent represents you. The seller typically pays the agents. I can explain that more detail.
- Picking a real estate agent is not always easy but there are various ways to search for an agent but the main one is picking an agent you feel comfortable with.
- What if offer is accepted or rejected? If rejected, the seller may counter or use a form that states what the seller will be open to accept. Buyer can then decide to change their offer or search for another home. If accepted, the term is executed and the process to complete the transaction is started
- The buyer then pays the earnest money to the title company within three days with the option fee.
- If the buyer has paid an option fee (always a good idea), then the inspections need to be scheduled as soon as possible. The option period is a limited amount of days.
- Based upon inspections, the buyer can ask for repairs or decide to cancel their purchase.
- Once you are past the option period, the lender goes to work. The lender will ask you for paperwork. The faster you can get that paperwork to the lender the quicker they can process your loan.
- Title will handle all the paperwork that needs to be done to establish that you will get clear title to the property with no liens or issues with the title. The title commitment is sent out for you to review. I read it also and will report to my clients about any issues.
- The survey is done and the appraisal is done. Once all items are cleared, closing will be scheduled. There is a process to closing that I will keep my clients on track for a good day at closing.
- Buyers do a walk through to see the home before closing. That items are removed, items are left that are to be left and the home is clean with no issues that are new.
- Title will send the signed paperwork to the lender. The lender reviews and releases the money to title. At that time the loan is funded and the home belongs to you and the keys are released.
See: Moving-Tips-in-a-8-Week-Timeline on my blog or my YouTube channel for a list of items to prepare you for your move.
Loan Topics:
Down Payment Information
Facts about FHA Loans
Facts about Conventional Loans
Facts about VA Loans
Facts about USDA Loans
Here’s What This Cheat Sheet Will Do For You
and How it Will Start you on the path to Home Ownership
Forget the agony and frustration of trying to figure it out on your own… and finally discover the stunningly simple “blueprint” behind getting ready to buy a home… WITHOUT being a technical wizard, spending time figuring it out on your own, or feeling lost in the process. Plus having both of us here to answer your questions and help with getting you ready to move into that new home. And we are always here to walk you through solutions that work for you or answer questions that you might have.