Buying A Home
1. Start Researching
Begin reading Websites, newspapers, magazines; anything that has real estate listings. Make note of homes you in which you are interested. Pay attention to style, square footage, yard size and anything else you deem as important to you. Perusing sites will give you a sense of the housing trends.
2. Determine How Much House You Can Afford
Lenders will generally recommend that you look for homes that cost no more than three to five times their household income if the buyer plans to apply a 20% down payment as well as normal day-to-day debt.
We recommend downloading any “mortgage calculator” apps to help you determine a feasible monthly payment. Finding a “Saving” tool to use as a guide for accomplishing your down payment goal.
3. Get Prequalified And Pre-Approved For A Mortgage Loan
While this is set as number three it is actually the first step to seriously beginning the search. You will need to know how much you can actually spend and the best way to do that is getting prequalified for a mortgage. In order to accomplish this, you just need to provide some financial information to your lender. (Usually, Income and amount of savings you have through W-2 statements, paycheck stubs, bank account statements, etc). These can verify your financial status and credit. Your lender will review this information and inform you about how much they can lend.
4. Find the Right Real Estate Agent
Agents are integral when you are buying or selling a home. Real Estate Professionals have access to information that is not easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the buying process, skillful negotiating and insight into your areas of interest is extremely valuable. Want to know the best part!? It will not cost you anything to use an agent. Their compensation is paid by the seller of the home.
5. Shop, Choose, Offer
Buying a home is considered a contact sport. The more homes you see in your price range, the more understanding you have of what is truly important to you. This will help you start narrowing the search, zeroing in on the eventual house that provides years of memories for you and your family. Here are some tips to help you during our search.
* Use this checklist on each home you visit as you can potentially see a lot of houses. While house hunting, it can be difficult to remember all those details, so take pictures and/or video for reference.
*Test the home’s systems(when appropriate) like checking water pressure, light switches, window condition and anything available to the naked eye.
An evaluation of a neighborhood in which you are interested is important. Make note of:
*The condition of other homes on the block?
*Is there a lot of traffic on the street?
*Is parking on the street convenient for family and friends?
*Are schools, shops, restaurants, parks and public transportation conveniently located?
Searching for a home requires patience. Take as much time as you need to find your home then work with your agent to negotiate a fair offer based on their analysis of comparable homes. Once the seller has accepted your offer you must do…..
6. Get a Home Inspection
Usually, offers are contingent on a home inspection of the property. They will check for any indication of structural damage or items that need immediate attention. Your realtor will assist in scheduling the inspection within a few days of the offer acceptance. This contingency protects you, by allowing a chance to renegotiate or withdraw the offer without penalty if material damage is revealed.
Both you and the seller will receive the engineer’s report. Then you can decide whether or not you want the seller to fix anything on the property or issue a credit before closing the sale. Before you close you will do a walk-through of the house to confirm if repairs have been made.
7. Accelerate the Loan Process and Coordinate Your Paperwork
You will be further along if you followed step 3. Having experienced and responsive mortgage bankers will ease the process exponentially. The lender will arrange for a title company to confirm that the seller is the rightful owner.
8. Home Appraisal
Your lender will arrange for an appraiser to provide a professional estimate of the house you are buying.
9. CLOSE THE SALE
All that is left is for you to go and sign all of the corresponding loan documents and then receive your keys for the “one”.
