Steps
10 Steps to Buying a Home
1. Get a pre-approval letter from a lender.
I recommend that you get pre-approved for a loan before you start viewing homes with the serious intention of buying. The pre-approval process involves meeting with a lender and authorizing them to examine your current financial situation and credit history. On the basis of this examination, the lender may provide you with a document detailing the amount you can borrow to buy a home. You may consider looking online to see what different lenders offer, or contacting your local bank or credit union, also you may contact me to find an experienced lender.
2. Find the right real estate agent.
Real estate agents are important partners when you are buying or selling a home. Real estate agents can provide you with helpful information on homes and neighborhoods that is not easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the home buying process, negotiating skills, and familiarity with the area you want to live in can be extremely valuable. And best of all, it does not cost you anything to use an agent – they are compensated from the commission paid by the seller of the house.
3. Start house hunting
The fun part! As your agent I will schedule showings and help you find the perfect home. I will also set you up on a listing alert based off your criteria to ensure you see every available home.
Simply put, the key to the home search process is knowing what you are looking for. Among other things, that means distinguishing between “must-haves” and “like-to-haves”. That said, here are a few recent facts about the search process that might put your experience in perspective:
- 92% of buyers use the internet or mobile apps to search for homes.
- The typical buyer searches for 12 weeks and views 12 homes.
- 97% of buyers view real estate agents as important in the home search process.
There are many benefits to starting the search process on a real estate professional’s website, like the one you are on now. You can view many homes and their details, access neighborhood info, and read helpful blog posts.
However, it is also important to view homes in person. While the property details may seem similar online, homes can be quite different in terms of layout, design, workmanship, and other aspects. Ideally, you should view homes with the help of an experienced real estate
professional who will notice things you might miss, provide expert analysis, and act as an impartial sounding board.
4. Make an offer and negotiate with the seller.
Take as much time as you need to find the right home. Then work with your real estate agent to negotiate a fair offer based on the value of comparable homes in the same neighborhood.
Once you have written the offer, your real estate professional will present it to the seller and/or the seller’s representative. At that point, the process may vary somewhat. The seller can accept your offer, reject it, or counter it to initiate the negotiation process.
Once you and the seller have reached agreement on a price, the house will go into escrow, which is the period of time it takes to complete all the remaining steps in the home buying process.
5. Get a home inspection.
Typically, purchase offers are contingent on a home inspection of the property to check for signs of structural damage or things that may need fixing. Your real estate agent usually will help you arrange to have this inspection conducted within a few days of your offer being accepted by the seller. This contingency protects you by giving you a chance to renegotiate your offer or withdraw it without penalty if the inspection reveals significant material damage.
Both you and the seller will receive a report on the home inspector’s findings. You can then decide if you want to ask the seller to fix anything on the property before closing the sale. Before the sale closes, you will have a walk-through of the house, which gives you the chance to confirm that any agreed-upon repairs have been made.
6. Work with a mortgage lender.
Once you have a pending agreement, it is time to return to your chosen lender to finalize mortgage details in order to close the deal.
Lenders have a wide range of competitively priced loan programs and a reputation for exceptional customer service. You will have many questions when you are purchasing a home, and having one of our experienced, responsive mortgage bankers assist you can make the process much easier.
Every home buyer has their own priorities when choosing a mortgage. Some are interested in keeping their monthly payments as low as possible. Others are interested in making sure that their monthly payments never increase. And still others pick a loan based on the knowledge they will be moving again in just a few years.
Unfortunately, too many buyers suffer negative consequences from not fully understanding their financing decisions. Thus, it is crucial for you to work with people you trust. In this regard, a good real estate professional can become a true friend for life.
7. Have the home appraised.
Lenders will arrange for an appraiser to provide an independent estimate of the value of the house you are buying. The appraiser is a member of a third-party company and is not directly associated with the lender. The appraisal will let all the parties involved know that you are paying a fair price for the home.
8. Coordinate the paperwork.
As you can imagine, there is a lot of paperwork involved in buying a house.
Key steps to the closing, also referred to as the “escrow” or “settlement”, include Getting a title search – you will need a historical review of all legal documents relating to ownership of the property – to ensure that there are no claims against the title of the property. A title company will be arranged to handle all the paperwork and make sure that the seller is the rightful owner of the house you are buying. It is also necessary to purchase Title Insurance for protection in the event of errors in the records or mistakes in the review process.
9. Close the deal
The final walkthrough – you will be given the chance to look at the home one last time to make sure it is in the same condition as when you signed the sale agreement.
At closing, you will sign all the paperwork required to complete the purchase, including your loan documents. It typically takes a couple of days for your loan to be funded after the paperwork is returned to the lender.
The settlement will include paying your closing costs, legal fees, property adjustments and transfer taxes. At that point, you will receive the property title and copies of all documentation pertaining to the purchase.
10. New Homeowner
Congratulations you are a new homeowner! Yay! How exciting! Oh, and one more thing – you’ll get the keys!
As you can see the home buying process is not that complicated. The most import thing is to have a real estate agent that will guide you through the entire process.
LET'S FIND THE PLACE YOU DESERVE
Text START to +1 (702) 500-9551
Copyright © 2023 Jenny Gong, LLC. - Las Vegas Realtor