Whether it’s your first time or your tenth, home buying can be an exhilarating yet nerve-wracking experience. At Bracha, our dedicated agents walk clients through the whole process with a level of transparency and knowledge that is unrivaled, but it’s always helpful to get an idea of what you’re in for ahead of time.
Because we know how important it is to future and current buyers alike, we’ve put together this handy overview of what the buying process actually looks like, and will follow it up with a more thorough breakdown of each step in future posts. Enjoy!
- Select a Real Estate Agent
- Obtain Financial Pre-Approval
- Analyze Your Needs
- Select Properties
- View Properties
- Write an Offer to Purchase
- Negotiate Terms
- Accept the Contract
- Remove Contingencies
- Obtain Funds for Closing
- Close the Property
- Take Possession of Home!
Finding the right person to guide you through the process is absolutely key. At times, the process can get stressful or feel confusing (let’s just be honest), so it’s important to select an agent that is not just knowledgeable, but that you get along with and like!
Though you may feel like this step is way too early in the process, knowing exactly how much you can comfortably spend on a home will help you avoid the potential frustration of looking at homes beyond your means.
What do you want in a home? Is an outdoor space a must-have? A school nearby? Sitting down and going over the specifics of what you want at the beginning will help you and your agent find the homes that are the best fit for you (and save you from wasting time going to see that condo in the wrong neighborhood without the doorman you required or enough bedrooms).
Pretty self-explanatory. At this stage in the process, you and your agent will compile a list of homes that fit your needs and wants. Leading us to the next and most anticipated step for most home buyers…
This is the fun part that you see on all the HGTV shows. Getting to view first-hand the place that could be your future home is the most exciting step in the process. Stave off disappointment by knowing what your musts are when you make your list of properties to view.
This is a pretty standard agreement that your agent will present to the listing agent and/or seller. That being said, there is some negotiation that can go into the document when it comes to price, move-in date, and additional property, like major appliances.
In most cases, after receiving your offer to purchase, the seller will respond with a counter-offer. (This is where Bracha’s amazing agents come into play). You and your agent will work together to come to an agreement with the seller on the terms of the purchase.
Once you and the seller have decided on the terms, the contract is accepted by both parties. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty.
This stage might be the least fun, but one of the most important steps in the home buying process. This is when you will obtain mortgage financing (made slightly less painful if you obtain pre-approval way back in Step 2), conduct inspections of the property, and get title insurance, amongst other things.
If all goes well in Step 9, you will have secured the funds to move into the closing phase. At this point, if you are prepared, it’s usually all smooth sailing from here on out.
Closing day should be exciting in a good way, not an Armageddon sort of way. Avoid surprises by being prepared with all the things you’ll need to bring with you to complete the closing process. (We’ll be giving you a super helpful checklist for closing day in a later post.)
This is the part where you let out a huge sigh of relief and triumph, collect those new keys, and start envisioning what shade of eggshell to paint your new living room.
Buying a new home is definitely an, er, process, but with the right help and planning, it can be completely enjoyable and pain-free. Keep an eye out for our future posts, where we’ll break down each of these steps into more detail. Got specific questions about the home buying process? Leave them in the comments below and we’ll be sure to try to answer them throughout this series.
Image courtesy of Frontdoor.com.