11 Steps to Buying A Home

by Sharon Hassler, president, Go Get Experts, LLC

1. First, find a Realtor® you like and trust. Buying a home may be your biggest financial decision so step one should be selecting a Realtor® you’re comfortable with. Find an agent you’ll want to confide in and spend time with while searching for your dream home and throughout the escrow-closing process. The right real estate agent will understand and respond to your needs, assist you in finding the perfect home, negotiate the best terms, and generally help you from start to finish. Ask friends, peers, relatives, loan officers, attorneys, accountants and financial planners for referrals. Also, search GoGetRealEstate.com and review the experience, specialties and testimonials for agents who have posted their professional profiles here.
2. Find a loan officer or mortgage broker you can rely on. Again, this is an important decision and you need to know upfront how much house you can afford. The right loan originator will ask a lot of questions in order to find the best loan program for you. You can shop for the “lowest mortgage rate,” but it may not come with the program best suited to your short-range or long-term plans. And, unfortunately, anyone can quote an attractive rate to get your business; it’s anyone’s guess whether you’ll actually receive that quoted rate and terms or if that lender will be able to close the loan for you. That’s why you need a reliable loan officer. Start early; you may discover you need a few months to correct your credit report or improve your FICO® score. Start your search by asking people whose advice you trust for referrals. And, of course, check out the professionals at GoGetLoan.com.
Create a description of the home you want. Your agent will need an idea of what you’re looking for to begin researching properties. Along with price range, potential neighborhoods, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, fenced yard for children and pets, schools, and so on, include an idea of your lifestyle. There’s a saying in real estate that “feelings not features sell homes,” and that’s true. Two houses with identical criteria may have entirely different feelings associated with them, one casual and comfortable, the other formal and refined. Share your personal sense of home with your Realtor®. Keep in mind you probably won’t find a house with everything on your list, but you will find a house that feels like home.
3. Shopping for the right home. Once the search begins, whether done virtually online or in real-life visits, make lots of notes. You’d be surprised how quickly houses begin to blur together. Write down the address of each home that’s a potential “yes” and note a few particulars, negative or positive, that set it apart such as: spectacular entry with mural, large backyard with fountain and privacy, blue wallpaper in guest bath has to go.
4. Prepare your offer. When you’ve found the right home, your Realtor® will sit down with you to prepare your offer for the seller. Your agent will have market information, price comparisons, neighborhood sales trends, how long the home has been on the market, and so on to help you determine your proposed sales price offer. This is the time to ask questions and be sure you understand what the offer and how the escrow process will affect you. You can include in your offer certain conditions (called contingencies) including length of escrow, proposed seller repairs, any personal property you want as part of the sale, etc. If you want it, ask for it in the initial offer.
5. Submitting the offer. Your agent will present your offer to the seller or the seller’s real estate agent. Your Realtor® will subsequently receive the seller’s response and return it to you. This could be an acceptance, a counter offer, or a rejection.
6. The earnest money or “good faith” deposit. To show that your offer is being made in good faith, you will submit a deposit, usually a personal check, with the offer. The check will not be cashed until your offer or any counter offers are accepted and escrow is officially opened by your agent with an escrow company or attorney.
7. The escrow process. During this period, the buyer obtains financing, inspections are performed, and contingencies are met. Along with the conditions spelled out in the purchase contract other possible contingencies may include approval of commitment for title insurance, loan approval, physical property inspection, and termite inspection.
8. Homeowner’s insurance. If you’re buying the home with a new loan, your lender will require a homeowners insurance policy, usually for replacement value of the property. The policy will name you and your lender as the loss payee. This policy must be provided before escrow can be closed. It is frequently overlooked and is a common reason for delaying the closing, so attend to it early in the process.
9. Remainder of payment. Your escrow officer, closer or attorney will tell you the amount needed to close the escrow. Most states require you to provide funds in a cashier’s check or wire transfer. A personal check will not be accepted.
10. Close of escrow. When all other contingencies of the contract have been met, you will be asked to sign loan documents and other closing papers and provide your funds. Your mortgage company will “fund the loan,” and all monies will be deposited into the escrow account of the company handling the closing. When that company is satisfied that all conditions are met, they will record at the county recorder the deed that conveys the property to you. At that point, escrow is closed and you own the home.
11. Going home. Your Realtor® should have arranged for you to receive keys to your property after the escrow closes so you’re ready to take possession of your property. Congratulations and enjoy your new home!

©Copyright Sharon Hassler. All rights reserved. Sharon Hassler is president of Go Get Experts, LLC, owner and operator of GoGetRealEstate.com and other web page/directory websites. She is author of the downloadable eBook “So You Think You Want A Website: Internet Marketing 101 for Real Estate Agents”. A former loan officer and real estate agent in Southern California, she served as Communications Manager for First American Title-Arizona for 11 years. For more about Sharon, visit GoGetRealEstate.com/Get/Sharon.