Buying a house can sometimes feel like an intimidating, complicated and confusing process –  but that’s because it is! A lot of our clients tell a similar story – they have been thinking about buying a home for awhile now, they’ve wanted to stop renting and start investing, they want to establish their home to raise a family – but they haven’t made a single move to work towards becoming a homeowner. It’s easy to avoid something when you don’t understand the process or have someone there to help walk you through it. Luckily, that’s what we LOVE to do and we’re really good at it.

There’s so much information out there and it can get confusing as to what exactly YOU need to do as a buyer. We’ll admit, there is a TON of information and moving parts that work together during the transaction process, probably more than you’d want to sit and read through in a blog post, so let’s simplify it into 10 steps.

1. Connect

With us! Why make it harder on yourself and spend hours piecing together information from a bunch of different websites on the internet, when we could probably explain the entire process to you in five minutes (or at least a cup of coffee amount of time). We LOVE what we do and the best part of our job (besides seeing how happy our clients are on closing days!) is helping you through this process. We live, breathe, sleep it every day – let us make this process a whole lot easier for you!

2. Pre-Approval

A huge part of this step is dialing in your home financing. We’ll point you in the direction of some trusted lenders, then they’ll help walk you through getting pre-approved. Getting pre-approved is so important, it strengthens your position when you’re ready to submit an offer and helps you focus your search on amazing opportunities within your price range.

3. Understand the Costs

Mortgages are complex and a lot of times there’s more than just the mortgage payment to consider. These extra costs can add up quickly on top of the purchase price. Understanding the costs ahead of time will help you feel more prepared and know how much you want to spend.

4. Create Your Wishlist

Now comes the fun part! Sit down and make a list of what is on your list of must-haves, wants, and absolutely-nots in a home. Remember – it’s not just about the physical features of the house! Consider things like work, hobbies, and lifestyle.

5. Start Shopping

It’s time to start shopping! Working with a Realtor is imperative because we get the fastest and most up-to-date listing information from the MLS. Ever find a home on Redfin or Zillow that you love, then to find out it’s already pending? That’s because home sites like those are second-party sources to the MLS. We can set up saved buyer-specific searches that notify us with alerts when a new listing that fits your needs hits the market.

6. Preview Properties of Interest

Once you found the properties you want to look at, we’ll set up appointments to walk you through the home for a showing. Open Houses are another great option for viewing a lot of listings at your leisure.

7. Place Your Offer

When you find a property you love, you’ll want to move quickly – especially in a market with multiple offers. We’ll get your offer submitted and to the negotiating and hard work for you.

8. Pending

When your offer is accepted, it’ll either be a conditional or a firm sale depending on whether or not all the terms are met in the agreement. When obtaining financing, the typical “pending” timeframe is about 30-45 days until closing.

9. Signing

After the final loan documents are completed and sent over to escrow, you’ll schedule a time – usually 1-2 days before closing – to sign your closing documents.

10. Closing

Wooooo! Congratulations! This is when we get to celebrate your accomplishment and hand over those keys.

 

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial and emotional decisions that you and your family will make. That’s why we love to help our clients through the process, so that what can be a stressful time is made easier and more enjoyable on your side. After all, we have just a little (30+ years – humble brag) of experience and have helped hundreds of families find their home. We’d love to help you find yours!

—

As always, if you’re thinking about buying or selling, let us know and we can talk through the best strategy for your budget, area, and timeline. We love to answer any questions about real estate, big or small! Call, text, or email us and we would love to help!