Buying a home involves finding the property, securing financing, making an offer, getting a home inspection, and closing on the purchase. Your home buying needs are one of a kind. Suzy will develop a custom plan to: provide you with proven, powerful and personal service, help you find the right home and negotiate the best price and terms for it, and close the sale in a smooth, timely manner. Below is a flowchart of home buying process step by step:
Mortgage pre-approval
While most homebuyers kick off their search by browsing listings online, it’s smart to get pre-approved for a loan before you start going to open houses. As an accurate estimate of your homebuying potential, this will help you determine your price range. Most of the sellers ask for a pre-approval letter as proof that you’ll be able to receive financing if your offer is accepted. In most cases, getting a pre-approval takes 1 to 3 days. You will be asked about your income and assets and do a soft credit pull (don’t worry, this won’t affect your credit score).
Home Wants and Needs
You want to think about what is the most essential value for having a real estate agent in buying a home. Is it the aid of marketing, or shopping in the case of buying? Is it finance, doing a right investment, and getting the best deal? Is it guidance and advice during the entire process? Or is it the paperwork and formality? Those are all essential values for a good real estate agent. But there is one above all. That is, professionalism. And that is Suzy as your real estate agent will present to you. Logical, Details, Insights, Positive, Streamline efficiency, etc., those are all the showcases of professionalism.
Offer and Negotiation
Ok, you’ve found the one. From here, it may only take a few hours to discuss the terms of your offer with your real estate agent before it’s submitted. But, it’s after you submit the offer that the real nail-biting begins. Sellers aren’t required to respond within a specific period of time, but most will either accept, reject, or counter your offer within 24 to 48 hours. In cases of multiple offers or a foreclosure, things could take a bit longer.
Communication mostly happens over the phone between buying and selling agents, so you’ll likely be waiting on your agent for the latest status updates. Once you hear back, you may have to negotiate back and forth on things like price, contingencies, and closing date until you come to an agreement with the seller.
Loan processing and Contingencies
When the seller accepts your offer (congrats!), you’ll start the process of officially getting approved for your home loan. The application usually asks questions about the property and occupancy type as well as your employment history and finances. Within 3 days of submitting your application, a lender must provide you with a “loan estimate”—which is a standardized document that contains your monthly payment, interest rate, and other associated costs of your mortgage.
From here, you’re ready to make the purchase official! First you’ll select the right home loan type and term and then lock in your interest rate. Then head through the processing and closing of your loan and onto owning your dream home. Once you’ve submitted your loan application, it moves into processing. In this phase, your lender will give you a list of documents that you need to provide so they can verify all of the information you provided in your application. The quicker you submit them to your loan processor, the quicker your file will move along. Processing includes a few steps that often happen simultaneously, including your appraisal, inspection, title search, and underwriting.
Obtain Funds and Closing
While your title, appraisal, and inspection work is being completed, your lender will thoroughly review all the information you provided to verify that it is accurate. They’ll also calculate your debt-to-income ratio to determine the risk level of approving you for the loan. This process usually takes around 10 to 15 days. Once everything is accepted, you’ll receive a conditional approval. This means that you’ll be approved for a loan once certain conditions are met. These might include additional documentation, the sale of your current home, or results from an appraisal. When all the steps of the process are completed, you’ll receive a “clear to close” notice, meaning you’ve been fully approved and can move forward with closing—the last step before the home is yours!
Three days before closing, your lender must provide you a document known as a “closing disclosure”. The 3-day window gives you time to compare your final terms and costs to those estimated in the loan estimate you previously received. The closing disclosure will contain the exact figures of your monthly mortgage payment, as well as how much it will cost to close on your loan. If you have any questions, this is the time to ask your lender before you go to the closing table.
Final walkthrough
Before closing, it is recommended you and your agent perform a final walkthrough. This is your chance to verify the home is in a satisfactory condition since your offer was first accepted. You should ensure all the correct appliances and fixtures are still in the home and that any negotiated repairs were completed. If there are any problems, your agent can help you get them fixed. If all looks great, then you’ll be ready to close.
Close on Your New Home
Congratulations! You made it to the last step of the loan process. During closing, you’ll be expected to sign paperwork. Then, your lender will transfer the funds to the home seller and initiate your loan, and you’ll (finally!) get the keys to your new home. The closing process usually takes an hour or two, but in some states, funding may happen a day or so after the closing date. After closing, you’ll officially be a homeowner. Time to celebrate!
Ready to start the process of buying a home? Suzy can help. Contact me at the number on the top of the page.