How To Buy a Home

We know that buying or selling a home is one of the most important things you will ever do, and we want to help make that experience as smooth and successful as possible. The following information is intended to help you prepare to buy a home.

One of the most important things is to determine how you will be paying for your new home. The two main ways to purchase a house are by obtaining a mortgage (loan) or paying cash. If you'll be paying cash, your Realtor will need to get a copy of your proof of funds (can be a bank statement with sufficient funds). If you will be obtaining a mortgage, please continue reading below.

First, you should contact a mortgage lender to obtain a pre-approval letter. You'll want a mortgage lender who has plenty of experience, good referrals and is professional. Most buyers prefer to work with a local lender because the local lender is familiar with the areas you are considering buying in. This is especially important if you are considering purchasing a condo, since getting a loan on a property with an HOA (Home Owner's Association) are sometimes more challenging.

The lender you contact will ask you several questions. They will inquire who will be on the loan docs, about your employment, and any outstanding debts you have. They will also want to run a credit check to determine your FICO score. The lender is going to request you to submit many documents in order to obtain mortgage approval.

The most common types of loans are conventional, VA, and FHA. Each one has pros and cons, your lender will help determine which is the best mortgage for you. Your lender will discuss loan options with you and fees relating to the loans.

Having a good lender on your side is very important in a real estate transaction. A reliable lender will help the transaction close on time by making sure your loan gets funded within the time frame of your purchase agreement.

Please let us know if you need help finding a local lender.

Second, you'll want to determine the price range of the house. The pre-approval you obtain from your lender will be the main tool you use to set your price search range. Sometimes you can spend slightly more than the pre-approved amount, but not much. It's usually best to stay within the lender’s preapproved amount. Just because you are pre-approved for a certain amount does not mean that you have to spend that much. If you are pre-approved for $700K, there is nothing wrong with spending $650K. ​​​​​​​Click Here for a mortgage calculator.

Third, save a copy of your pre-approval letter from your lender, and send it to your Realtor. Your Realtor will need to attach the pre-approval letter and proof of funds for down-payment to the offer you submit on a property. A pre-qualification letter isn't good enough. With a pre-approval, a lender has actually reviewed and confirmed your financial situation, so the pre-approval holds much more weight than a pre-qualification.

Sellers require that the pre-approval letter be attached to the offer because they want to know that you can actually afford the house and that it is very likely that your loan will go through.

GREAT your budget set! It's time for the fun of looking at homes!

First, you need to find a good Realtor that you can trust. We recommend working with a Realtor that understands the market has done plenty of real estate transactions and works in the area that you're trying to buy-in. These are the agents that are typically the most reliable, professional, and knowledgeable. We will be supporting you throughout the entire process!

As a Realtor we try to present all the important information in a way that makes sense to our clients, so you can make a good decision. That decision may be to wait another year before buying or to buy immediately. It may also be to assist buyers towards areas with the best renting and/or resale value. Our role is to support and recommend, so that you, the client, benefits.

Next, now that you have a pre-approval letter and a Realtor, let’s start looking at houses! We will ask you for some general information about what you're looking for (price range, neighborhood, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, fixer vs. updated, etc) and we will then send you some initial listings. Take a look at the listings online and let us know if we should adjust our search criteria.

Please keep an open mind when viewing listings online. It's important to focus on the main features of the home, such as location, number of rooms, and size. Some photos of the homes may not accurately represent the house, which can be either better or worse than the pictures. If the house fits your general criteria, it's probably worth viewing in person.

Some buyers feel that they need to view a ton of homes to get a feel for what they want in a house. We advise seeing at least a handful of homes. However, when you start to view 15, 30, or 40 houses, it can get overwhelming. If you love a house that you see, and it's within your price range, consider making an offer. If you continue viewing properties, someone else can come put an offer in on the house you wanted and it will no longer be available.

Finally, once you have looked at the homes you are interested in and know which is your favorite, it's time to write an offer. We will help you draft the paperwork for signature via E-signature or in person. We are here to assist through the entire process, so please feel free to ask questions anytime.

We will submit your offer, and if the seller does agree, they will sign the purchase agreement. In most cases, the seller will submit a counteroffer either based on the purchase price and/or other terms of the purchase agreement. Once the offer is accepted we will work with the seller's Realtor to open Escrow.

Please continue reading about the next steps in buying a home on our “After An Accepted Offer” page.