The home buying process
There are many steps involved with purchasing a home and for a first-time home buyer the process can be daunting. However, it's your realtors job to make the process as simple as possible and make you aware of everything the transaction consists of so there will be no surprises throughout the process. Home ownership is a long procedure as well as a great achlomplishment. Below are the steps in a nutshell to join the ranks of homeownership.
1.) Get Pre Qualified
Pre qualification simply means you talk to a bank representative and they give you an amount that you can afford. Many clients are surprised on what they can qualify for!
The first step in any purchase of a house is to get an individual pre qualified from a bank/ loan officer this does not take long and if you do not know where to go to get pre qualified a realtor should have lender that they could recommend to fit your needs.
2.) Get An Agent (Johnny) To Show Properties
Once prequalification is complete you can have an agent represent and show you properties that fit in your price range. Remeber prices are negiotable so be sure to speak to your realtor about the price range you want to look for properties in as well as how to accomadate other fees and payments associated with your loan and home purchase given your range.
3.) Put An Offer On A Property
Once you find a propery you like we can then put an offer on any property that fits into your approval range. There are many forms and addendum's but it can be done in the course of a couple hours if not sooner given timley response time between the Realtor and the client.
***IMPORTANT*** with the sales contract a buyer has to write a check and have a copy attached to the sales contract known as an earnest money deposit (EMD). This check can range in any amount. The EMD is simply a good faith amount to show that you are serious about buying the property so the higher the amount the more likely you can beat out other contracts. The money is returned to you at closing by being applied to your closing costs, loan, or any other credit that the lender can find. In other words the money comes back to you at the end. ***IMPORTANT***
The only way the money is not returned to you at the end is if you suddenly choose not to purchase the property and go against the contract for any unjustifiable reason. The seller then keeps that check to compensate their time.
4.) Offer is Sent
Offer is sent to the listing agent and a negotiation period begins back and forth until a consensus is made, a good strategy is to make to make a strong initial offer to show that you are ready, willing, and able to buy.
Be sure to speak to your realtor about the best stratgey, they know the market, how deals tend to get completed and perhaps how the other agent operates!
5.) Have A Ratified Contract
Upon agreement of pricing and terms the contract becomes ratified, the house is taken off the market, and we undergo around a 30-45 day period for a home inspection, appraisal, and for you to get pre-approved.
Home inspection: A home inspector enters the house and sees anything wrong with the property. Once that is complete we undergo another negotiation period to see what the seller will and will not fix. If there is no agreement then you can back out of the contract without losing your EMD.
Appraisal: An appraiser comes into the house and says what he thinks the house is worth, if he says it is worth less then what we purchased it for I would personally advise to renegotiate the price closer to the appraisal. If it comes back higher than the list price we shut our mouth and proceed with the purchase.
Pre approved: We go back to the loan officer and have him further take a look at your sources of income by evaluating your bank accounts, W-2/1099 forms etc. DO NOT MAKE ANY BIG PURCHASES DURING THE CLOSE PERIOD. Doing so will drastically effect your ability to be pre-approved or not.
6.) You Recieve The Keys To Your New Home!
Once we get though the tedious process of the home inspection, apprasial, pre approval, etc. We would close on the specified date with a settlement company (agent should have one to recommend, I do), you get the keys and enjoy your new home.
I know this is a lot of information but we can easily get it done. Whenever you say you want to put an offer on a house it’s my job to stop what I am doing, take the gloves off and get it. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me!