Buying a house.
Buying a house is one of the most important purchases you will make in your life. Owning a home gives your life a permanency, and a chance to build a life, and make an excellent long term financial investment.
If you are contemplating your first real estate investment, I wanted to lay out the typical purchase process for you. The more you know, and prepare now, the more successful your adventure will be!
Determine how much house you can afford. Get your credit score, and get a pre approval letter from a lender. Your Realtor can get you in touch with good lenders. This information will narrow the search criteria, so you can focus on the properties that are in your budget, and save a lot of time.
Think of your wants and needs. Big, small, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, two story, etc. The more clearly you can have the house you’re looking for in mind, the faster your search process will go, and the more likely you will find that house!
When you officially begin your search, you will be sifting through lots of possibilities, at first. Soon though, you will have seen the available listings and the new properties on the market will come to you slower. It’s important to realize that your Realtor has access to ALL properties for sale in the areas you are interested in, at the price point you have requested. This includes all properties on internet real estate sites, in fact your Realtor’s information is always more accurate, and current.
When you find a property you like, look it over, look the neighborhood over, and try to get a feel if this is a fit for you. Ask questions about lead paint, roof condition, easements, etc. Don’t be afraid to make an offer, at a respectable price. You are not under an obligation to complete the deal, until contingencies are removed, so now is the time for due diligence, and investigations to ensure that no major issues are lurking.
Escrow. When both side agree on price and terms, you enter escrow, usually a thirty day process that prepares documents and distributes money to the different parties.
A home inspection is not required, but HIGHLY recommended, to avoid surprises. The seller, hopefully will disclose every problem they know about, but often even they don’t know everything.
Everyone in the transaction will be monitoring the escrow daily to avoid and problems. Sometimes appraisal is an issue, if the appraiser (sent by the lender to make sure the property values at or below the sale price.) does not value the house at the asking price (does not happen often) the two parties can deliberate a solution.
Closing is the end of the process, after title searches and a final walk through is done, keys handed over and documents are signed.
Congratulations, you now have your new house!
