The Home Buying Process

If you are indeed serious in purchasing a home, before hitting  the streets I would recommend to interview a few agents and select and sign on with one to begin the process of getting preapproved for a mortgage or loan. Allow the real estate agent to recommend a mortgage professional who will lead and listen to provide the best options for your needs. Then you’ll be ready to hit the streets with your agent — and submit your best offer when you fall in love with a home.

The real fun begins when your offer is accepted! Find a home inspector that you trust and consider additional inspections if the home is old or you’d like to further investigate potential issues. It is good to be present during the home inspection to ask questions and see potential concerns or problems for yourself. Now that the home-buying process is off to a good start, be sure to call your mortgage lender to lock in your interest rate. When the home inspections are complete and repairs are necessary, we may ask seller to repair or address our concerns. Consult your real estate agent to make sure you ask for the essentials. The small stuff is a welcome to homeownership!

Final tasks and tying up loose ends. During this part of the process, your lender will request an appraisal. You’ll also need to secure homeowners insurance and make sure utilities are being transferred to your name. Meanwhile, assuming the appraisal is above or in line with your purchase price, the mortgage loan process will continue to move forward with no additional negotiations needed. If appraisal is lower than the purchase price than we may once again partake in a negotiation

The closing process. In the days leading up to the closing date, an escrow officer or closing attorney calculates final costs and credits for buyer and seller. On the closing day, you’ll sign a stack of paperwork and hand over a cashier’s check for the down payment and closing costs, and then get the keys to your castle! Once everything is signed and processed, the loan closes and property transfer is recorded.

Next step: Moving! After the transaction is successfully executed my team and I stay in touch.