Buying a Property

Find a Realtor®, they will guide you through the process and save you lots of headaches.

Get your finances in order, pay your outstanding debts, if possible. Make sure you do not need any big ticket items during the home buying process.

Speak to a local mortgage broker and get pre-approved.

Come up with a list of must-haves and would-be-nice criteria for a home, including the school district, proximity to areas important to you, and housing needs.

Based on your budget, criteria, and time frame, your Realtor® will come up with a list of possible homes. This list should be narrowed down to only those you are interested in – no sense in wasting your time.

Be ready to make an offer – immediately. This also includes knowing who your settlement (title) company will be – or you may use an attorney who also does title work in their offices. This information must be included on the initial offer. Many homes only stay on the market a couple of days. All too often, buyers stall and lose their dream home.

Work with your Realtor® and come up with a strong offer that you are comfortable with. This offer gets submitted to the seller’s agent.

Wait

Hopefully, your Realtor® will receive a phone call that your offer has been accepted. The other options are: rejected – they took another offer, or a counteroffer – where they are coming back with a different amount or different terms.

When receiving a counteroffer from a seller, the ball is now in your court. Can you accept these new terms, if not, you can reject and the offer is null and void; or you can counter with additional changes. This goes back and forth until all parties agree on all of the terms.

Remember – you are not under contract until all parties have agreed and signed. During negotiations, it is possible the seller receives a better offer and accepts it.

If your offer is accepted you now need to submit the agreed upon deposit to the attorney or title company within the stated time frame.

If you are getting a mortgage, immediately send the contract to your mortgage broker and begin the process for getting your loan.

Immediately arrange for inspections, there is a short window for this and must be done as soon as possible.

Evaluate the inspection findings with your Realtor®. You may be comfortable with the findings and decide to proceed with the contract. If there are major defects in the home, you can go back and renegotiate the repairs or credits with the seller.

Once the inspection period is over and all is agreed, a second deposit, by an agreed upon date is made to the attorney or title company.

Your Realtor®, mortgage broker and attorney/title company should all be working together to make sure you are on target for meeting all deadlines.

You will receive a preliminary settlement statement to review with your Realtor®, you will see how much cash you need at closing.

Arrange a wire transfer for any monies you will have to come up with at closing. Most closing companies will only accept a wire transfer – not a check.

A few days before closing, you will have a final walk through to make sure all agreed upon repairs were made, that all appliances still work, and that the property is in proper condition.

Your attorney or title company will arrange a time and place for you to sign all of the documents. Closings can now be done remotely, so you do not need to be in town for the closing.

Once both parties have signed and monies are transferred, you are given the keys to your new home. Congratulations!