9 Steps to Home Buying

9 Steps to Home Buying

1. Are you ready…?                                                                                                                                                                                             Whether you are a first-time home buyer or entering the marketplace as a repeat buyer, you need to ask why you want to buy. Are you planning to move to a new community due to a lifestyle change or is buying an option and not a requirement? What would you like in terms of real estate that you do not now have? Do you have a purchasing timeframe? Whatever your answers, the more you know about the real estate marketplace, the more likely you are to effectively define your goals. As an interesting exercise, it can be worthwhile to look at the questions above and to then discuss them in detail when meeting with local REALTORS®.
2. Hire a Realtor 
   In this maze of forms, financing, inspections, marketing, pricing and negotiating, it makes sense to work with professionals who know the community and much more. Those professionals are the local REALTORS® who serve your area. Interview a Realtor before hiring them. Once you select a Realtor, establish a proper business  relationship. Once hired for the job, the Realtor will provide you with information detailing current market conditions, financing options and negotiating issues that might apply to a given situation.
3. Get Pre-Qualified by a Lender                                                                                                                                               According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), nearly nine out of 10 buyers finance their purchase. The real issue with real estate financing is not getting a loan, it’s getting a loan that’s right for you — the mortgage with the lowest cost and best terms. Most sellers if not all will not consider your offer unless you are pre-qualified. Once pre-qualified you will be ready and able to make an offer on a home.
4. Look at Homes                                                                                                                                                                                                  Before looking for homes create a list with features and benefits you want in a home. Consider such things as pricing, location, size, amenities and design. Next, it’s important to consider your priorities. If you can’t get a home at your price with all the features you want, then what features are most important? Lastly, consider your needs in several years. If you’ll need a larger home, maybe now is the time to buy a bigger house rather than moving or expanding in the future.
5. Choose a home                                                                                                                                                                                                     Your  home is where you live, relax, entertain friends, raise families, and work. A home is where you spend much of your life, and so choosing a house is an enormous decision. How do you know if a house is THE one? Probably the best approach is to look at as many homes as possible. Remember Step 2, how much you can borrow, what loan programs will most likely work best in your situation and how much home you can afford.
6. Make an Offer                                                                                                                                                                                                 You sometimes hear that the amount of your offer should be x percent below the seller’s asking price or y percent less than you’re really willing to pay. In practice, the offer depends on the basic laws of supply and demand: If many buyers are competing for homes, then sellers will likely get full-price offers and sometimes even more. If demand is weak, then offers below the asking price may be in order. You will complete an offer that will be presented to the Listing agent who will them present it to the seller. The seller in turn, may accept the offer, reject it or make a counter-offer.
7. Get a Home Inspection                                                                                                                                                                                  A home inspection is a contract contingency. A contract contingency means a buyer has the right to cancel the contract. You might not want to be locked in to buying a home that has a faulty foundation, for example.

   Structural inspections are particularly important. During these examinations, an inspector comes to the property to determine if there are material physical defects and whether expensive repairs and replacements are likely to be required in the next few years. Such inspections for a single-family home often require two or three hours, and buyers should attend. This is an opportunity to examine the property’s mechanics and structure, ask questions and learn far more about the property than is possible with an informal walk-through. Sellers are generally not required to make repairs if problems are discovered during a home inspection. A home inspection is for the buyer’s edification. However, sometimes when a buyer gives a request for repair to the seller, rather than blow the deal, the seller will often agree to make a repair.
8. Closing                                                                                                                                                                                                              Settlement is a brief process where all of the necessary paperwork needed to complete the transaction is signed. Title to the property is transferred from seller to buyer. The buyer receives the keys and the seller receives payment for the home. From the amount credited to the seller, the closing agent subtracts money to pay off the existing mortgage and other transaction costs. Deeds, loan papers, and other documents are prepared, signed and filed with local property record offices. Before closing, buyers typically have a final opportunity to walk through the property to assure that its condition has not materially changed since the sale agreement was signed. At closing itself, all papers have been prepared by closing agents, title companies, lenders and lawyers. This paperwork reflects the sale agreement and allows all parties to the transaction to verify their interests.
9. What’s Next…?                                                                                                                                                                                                        You’ve done it. You’ve looked at properties, made an offer, obtained financing and gone to closing. The home is yours. Those papers you received at settlement are extremely valuable, so hold on to them! In the short-term they can help establish tax deductions for the year in which the property was purchased. In the future, such papers will be important for tax purposes when the property is sold, and in some cases, for calculating estate taxes. It is generally understood that sellers will leave homes “broom clean” when moving out. This expression does not mean “vacuumed” or “spotless.” For most owners a home is the largest single asset they hold, so it makes sense to protect that asset. Owning real estate involves contracts, loans, and taxes, but ultimately what’s most important is that home ownership should be a wonderful experience. Enjoy!