Buying a Home

Buying a home can be exciting, scary, and even stressful at times. My goal is to help this process go as smoothly as possible. A couple of ways you can be better prepared and have less stress when purchasing a home is by understanding the process of purchasing a home, and also by doing some work ahead of time which will allow the process to flow more easily later in the transaction.

The Process of Buying a Home

Contacting a Lender

The first thing you need to do is contact a lender. Many clients overlook or put off this step until later, but doing it early will help out tremendously. By meeting with a lender early in the process, you will know the price range of homes you are able to pursue. Additionally, when you meet with them, you can request a letter of loan approval, which makes your offers much more appealing to sellers.

Finding a Home

After you have spoken to a lender, we can begin to look at homes. It may take a few times out for me to get a feel for what type of home you may want or like. You can jump start this process by searching the MLS database and emailing me some of the listings that interest you (always try to include the MLS number of the properties you are referring to.). As a professional REALTOR^® I will begin to discern which homes will be a good fit for you, narrowing our scope to include only those homes in which you would be happy. Of course, if you find something that piques your curiosity, we can always take a look...it never hurts to look! My ultimate goal is to help you find exactly what you want and need.

Making an Offer

When we have found a home you like, we will write an offer on it, sending your loan letter and some earnest money to let the seller know you are serious about purchasing the property. Typically we will wait 24 hours for the seller's reply. At this point, the offer can be accepted, rejected, or the seller can make a counter-offer back to you. Once we have an agreed upon price (whether it be the first offer, or several counter-offers later), you have a contract! At that point, we go back to the lender to begin the final paperwork to secure your loan. We also set up a home inspection, pest inspection and make a list of questions and concerns that the seller needs to resolve with us before we close. This demonstrates another advantage of allowing me to help you in purchasing a home, since my primary concern is that you get the home you want and that you have adequate protection throughout the process.

Closing the Transaction

If all the inspections and concerns are addressed, we just wait for the title work to be completed and then we close! While I have tried to offer a general overview of the process, there are many small things that may need attention. Making sure all those small things get done, and getting you into your new home, the way you want it, is what I strive to do.

I hope to hear from you when you are ready to live the process. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.