5 steps to buying a home from a real estate agent and business owner
You’re standing in the checkout line of the Nordstrom anniversary sale about to impulsively buy an abnormally expensive pair of shoes and the only thing you keep thinking is, “Do I really need another pair of shoes? No, well, yes! But no ... I should be saving to buy my first home.”
Only problem is, you don’t know where to start. Your fear of the unknown is fueling your impulsive, yet beautiful shoe purchase. OK, but seriously, aren’t you saving for a house? As a gal who’s been a real estate agent for five plus years, I have some insight up my sleeve. Let’s talk about the five steps to buying a house:
1. Pre-approval
This is where it all starts. A pre-approval is the process of contacting a lender that will evaluate your financial situation based on your income, money saved or gifted to you, loans you have, debt-to-income ratio and a variety of other financial “stuff.” Pretty much, you’ll get a formal piece of paper that’ll determine how much you’re approved for.
2. Find an awesome, trustworthy realtor
During the process of being pre-approved, now’s a good time to find a realtor that will essentially hold your hand and guide you through the home-buying process. It’s very important that you find a realtor that you trust and have great communication with — there will be a time when you’ll be talking to them more than your significant other, so you might as well like them. Your realtor will show you all the pretty homes, but it’s not all glitz and glamor; they will negotiate and fight for you to get the best-case scenario. Even if it means getting on their hands and knees in a nasty crawlspace to ensure the repair was taken care of — yes, I’m talking from experience.
3. House shopping
This is the fun part; house shopping can vary in length depending on the buyer’s timeline & expectations. I’ve had clients who were very laid back with the home-buying process, who would see a house every few months and it was a couple of years before they bought their home. On the other hand, I’ve shown clients five homes on a Saturday, and they got their offer accepted the following day. It’s a very personal experience and it’s dependent on your schedule.
This stage is a great time to create a list of your “must haves,” “would like to haves” and your “no-no’s.” An example could be that it has to be an open-concept townhouse, with a backyard of any size and a minimum of two bedrooms. Your “would like to have, but aren’t a deal breaker" could be no carpeting throughout the entire home, with a spacious dining area and an extra half bath in the home. Your “no-no’s” could be that it can’t be more than a 20-minute commute to work and can’t be under 950 square feet. This is very personal to you, but it’ll allow you to understand what’s important to you.
4. You’re in love with this home, let’s put in an offer
When you’re ready to put an offer on a home, your realtor will work with you to gather all the required information about the home and submit an offer on your behalf to the listing agent and seller. The seller loves your offer and accepts it — now the home is pending. From the day your offer is accepted, it usually takes 30-45 days to close on your home and get the keys. During this time, you’ll work with the realtor and the lender to get all finances and house related tasks completed in time for closing. You’re almost at the finish line.
5. Closing day — you get the keys
The big day. You did it, you’re a homeowner. Congratulations! On closing day, you would have already scheduled a time to go to an escrow office to sign all the paperwork. Once all the paperwork is signed and all documents have been recorded and released, it’s officially time to decorate.
Header photo by Jessica Lewis Creative / Pexels
