14 Easy Steps

Whether you are buying your first home, or up-sizing or downsizing, if you follow these  fourteen easy steps to buying a home, your buying process will be so much more fun and enjoyable. After all don’t you want to enjoy spending that much money?

• Check your credit

Get with a mortgage person, or your bank and have them check your credit. Ask them to go over your finances to determine what kind of payments you can afford. Have them give you a good faith estimate. Have them include all the taxes and insurance on the NEW purchase price.

• Start your search

Start your search by sitting down and determining your daily lifestyle.

For example: Do you read while everyone else watches TV? Then you need a reading area aside from the TV room.

SEE??  Write it down – Everything you would want this New Life to have. Don’t forget to ask the children to do the same. Get elaborate, you can always cut back the search, but it is good to know what is the most important thing on the list.

• Find a Good Realtor

Find a good Realtor by asking for their testimonials. Friends and neighbors may have someone in mind, but you want a full time agent who has experience, and who will be there for you when you need them to be.

• Start the MLS search

Make your first attempts a wider band. This will educate you on what is available in that market area, and what the market is actually doing. Track the homes to see how long they are on the market, which ones sell, and for how much.

• Look at as many homes as you feel comfortable

Look until you find the right one for you. Remember every home will have something odd, the real question is can you live with that “odd” situation, room, or thing growing in the back yard?

• Get to know the market

When you have found one or two homes you really like, sit down with your Realtor and get the facts. Ask what homes have been selling for in the area. How many days have they been on the market. What were the features from one home to the next. Get to know the market.

• Making your Offer

Make an offer that is reasonable. The last thing you want to do is upset the seller so much so that he doesnt even respond to your offer. Your Realtor can tell you what the market in that area is doing. What is the difference between what someone is asking and what they sell for. Are they selling for 95% of the asking price? Then why do you think this particular seller will take 80%?

• Buyer Beware

Buyers should beware of the square foot of homes. Does the square foot quoted include car ports, screened porches, or enclosed sheds?

• Home Inspection

Once your offer is accepted have a home inspection. The inspector is trained to see past the paint and frills. He will determine if a specialist is needed. They are pretty good knowledgeable people and can give great advice.

• Final Paperwork

Your Realtor or the bank will order any surveys or appraisals that you will need. At this point the lending officer will be looking over your file to determine if everything is in order. If they should ask for more information, get it to them asap. The sooner you  get a commitment from the bank the better off you are.

• Week before closing

Be sure to lock in your home owners insurance. Call to have utilities turned on. Be sure to order the cable and phones.

• Day of closing

Sometimes you won’t know the exact amount of money to bring to the closing until the morning of the closing. Don’t panic, no one can do this without you there. So, take your time, go to the bank before your final walk thru and enjoy every moment of this fabulous day. You are closing on your new home! Hurray!

• Final Walk-Through

Always have a final walk-thru the day of closing. You never know what you might find. And it is better to find out about it before you sign when you can still negotiate. Did they move out, turn off the power, and now the frig is ruined? Was there a toilet running and flooded the place?  You never know until you walk-thru.

• Head to the closing with a smile

Good luck and hope you enjoy your new home.  And hope we could help.