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Finding the perfect house in our market isnt easy, but here is a great start.
So, you want to buy a house—but where do you start? The home buying process is an emotional, exciting, but also exhausting experience. Here’s how the buying process works from start to finish.
- Get pre-approved. It's a tedious start, but a critical step. Speaking with a good and local loan officer will help you determine exactly what you are approved to borrow, and what budget you would like to set based on your projected monthly expenses. You will get a sense of what current interest rates are, and how that effects your monthly mortgage payment. Remember P-I-T-I (aka PITY) Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance -- this is what you'll want to ask your lender when calculating your payments.
- Contact Gigi, your local real estate expert. I will help you navigate the process every step of the way. From touring properties, to negotiating the contract, and walking you through the transaction to the closing table. I'll be there by your side to answer any and all questions, and with my excellent referrals, you will be taken care of by the best in the business.
- Look at homes. Be patient at this stage. I will show you a variety of homes to get your reaction on features they think you’ll like. Give me detailed feedback so I can show you homes that are perfectly suited to you. You will also have the opportunity to attend open houses and explore neighborhoods so that we can narrow into your search.
- Make an offer. Once you’ve found your dream home, we will need to move quickly. I will guide you on a reasonable first offer to start negotiations based on market conditions. Also, make sure you consider closing costs which could account for 2-5% of the home price.
- Negotiate. Prepare to go back and forth with the seller a few times on price and selling conditions. I will be your advocate here and try to get you, their client as much as possible for your money while being fair and respectful to the seller and their real estate agent.
- An accepted offer. If you reach an agreement, you’ll make an earnest money deposit (EMD) to an escrow account to show good-faith. Escrow is usually 30 days where the seller takes the house off the market with the contractual expectation that you’ll purchase the house - provided you don’t find any serious problems during the inspection. Be sure you have the money for your EMD liquid because it will have to be deposited quickly.
- Closing. Pop the champagne! When your negotiations with the seller are successful, and the inspection came back clean, you should be ready to close. At your closing, you’ll spend a little over an hour signing paperwork and then will be handed the keys.