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ARE YOU LOOKING TO BUY A HOUSE?

 

Buying a home is a huge deal! Here are 10 steps to buying a house.
  1. Make sure you are ready to buy – You have paid off all of your debt, you have saved up an emergency fund, you can afford monthly mortgage payments and home maintenance, you have a good down payment, you can pay your moving expenses, you are planning to stay put for a while, and you have a real estate agent you trust.
  2. Figure out how much you can afford – set your home-buying budget, no more that 25% of your monthly take-home pay (this includes principal, interest, property taxes, home insurance and private mortgage insurance, finally don’t forget to take homeowners association fees into consideration).
  3. Save for a down payment – Aim for putting 20% down and for closing cost, you should save around 3%, moving and other expenses (get a quote ahead of time).
  4. Get preapproved for a mortgage – The best way to buy a home is with cash. But if you get a mortgage, getting preapproved is the first step to securing a home loan (a mortgage lender can prequalify you to buy a house or preapprove you which takes a few more steps). What kind of mortgage should you pick? A fixed rate conventional loan? An adjustable loan? FHA or VA? Or a 15- or 30-year term loan? So many types of loans, your mortgage lender will help you sort all of this out.
  5. Find the right real estate agent – Make sure your agent is full time, has great communication skills (will answer calls, text and emails promptly), make sure they know the area you are looking to buy in and finally they need to provide a detailed plan on how they are going to help you.
  6. Go house hunting – make a list of the features your new home MUST have and a list of things you would like it to have. THINK LONG TERM – Don’t compromise on location or layout, buy the least expensive home in the best neighborhood you can afford, pay attention to home values in the area, research the school districts if you have children. When you start house hunting you need to be prepared for it to take a while.
  7. Make an offer on a house – once you have found the right house submit an offer and sign a purchase agreement with the sellers.
  8. Get a home inspection and appraisal – once you get to this step you will be officially under contract. As a buyer you have the right to a professional home inspection before you purchase the house. If you are getting a home loan, your lender will also require an appraisal to assess the value of the property. An appraisal protects you from paying more than the home’s true value.
  9. Be patient getting your mortgage finalized. If you are getting a home loan you will need to wait for the loan to be approved. This is NOT the time to spend money. Your lender will be finalizing your mortgage and maybe monitoring your accounts.
  10. Close on your house. YOU DID IT! Before you get the keys for your new home, you have one more job to do! Bring on the hand cramps – PAPERWORK!!