Buy Your Dream Home With Confidence

So, you want to buy a house — now what? The first time buying a home is exciting, but it also can be an emotional and exhausting experience. You may also be wondering along the way—what am I missing? This is a common question. Here’s how the buying process works from start to finish.

• Do some preliminary online searching. Check what homes are selling for in the areas you’re interested in to give you an idea of what you’re looking for and the cost. This will help later on when communicating your wish list with your real estate agent.
• Take care of the budget. Use an online mortgage calculator to determine what your monthly mortgage payment would be if you were to purchase one of these homes you’ve found online. Make some additional estimates for utilities and see if this fits into your budget.
• Get pre-approved. To be pre-approved for a mortgage you’ll need to gather some paperwork: pay stubs, W-2s, bank account statements, tax returns for the past two years, and credit lines, and possibly the names and addresses of your landlords for the past two years. Start with your current bank, but make sure you check out competitor banks as well – you might get a better mortgage loan rate by shopping around. Also, consider the amount your lender approves you for as a maximum – this is by no means what you should spend. If you aren't sure which lenders to call, check with your real estate agent and see if they have any recommendations. 
• Find an agent. A good real estate agent will help you navigate the process every step of the way. Your friends and family will be great sources—see if any of your trusted contacts have someone they recommend. Be sure to interview more than one agent.  Don't just rely on other people's recommendations.  You will be working with this agent for a few months and you want to make sure your personalities mesh and they are committed in working for you. 
• Look at homes. Be patient at this stage. Your real estate agent may show you a variety of homes to get your input on features that you might like. Give your agent detailed feedback so they can show you homes that are perfectly suited to you. Sometimes, this process can take months or years depending on your wants and needs. Also, make sure you let friends and family know you’re looking for a new home--you may even find out about an amazing home before it hits the market.
• Make an offer. Once you’ve found your dream home, you may want to move quickly. Your agent will guide you on a reasonable first offer to start negotiations based on market conditions. Check in with your lender and have them give you a breakdown of what your mortgage payment would be and how much money will be required at closing.
• Negotiate. Prepare to go back and forth with the seller a few times on price and selling conditions. Your real estate agent will be your advocate here and try to get you as much as possible for your money while being fair and respectful to the seller and their real estate agent.
• An accepted offer. If you reach an agreement, you will get a signed contract!  This is when the initial good faith deposit is sent to the listing agent's broker to hold until closing.  
• Do a home inspection. Even if the home appears to be flawless, there’s no substitute for having a professional inspector review the property for quality, safety, and general condition of your potential home. You don’t want to be surprised with a home that needs a lot of unexpected repairs. If the inspection reveals undisclosed serious defects, you can negotiate further to have the seller make repairs or discount the selling price. You’ll also likely have the option to withdraw your offer and get your deposit money back.
• Appraisal. If you are pleased with the home inspection and intend on continuing with the sale, let your lender know they may order the appraisal.  The appraiser will schedule to view the home, check a required list of items then look at recent sales in the area to determine a market value.  This is important for the lender.  If the home does not appraise over the contracted sale amount, the lender will not authorize a loan. If that happens and you still want the home, discuss this with your real estate agent.  They could potentially negotiate a new purchase price with the seller. 
• Title Search. Simultaneously, your attorney will request a title search for the home.  This search will confirm the sellers on the deed and check records back 40+ years to make sure no one has rights to the home other than the sellers. The search will also check for any open liens against the home.  If something unfavorable was found, the title company and the attorneys will work together to clear up any issues. 
• Closing. When all the negotiations with the seller are successful, the appraisal is sufficient, and the title came back clean and the lender says you can have the loan, you will hear the words Clear to Close. The attorneys will collaborate a day and time to scheduled this. At the closing, you will spend a little over an hour signing a lot of paperwork -- then you will be handed the keys! Congratulations, you did it!