How to Make the Home Buying Process Easier

When shopping for a home, it’s not unusual to see various agents highlighting their ability to make the buying process a “stress-free!” affair. However, the truth of the matter is that purchasing a house is a large financial transaction—possibly one of the largest you’ll ever make—so stress may be a natural part of the process...

…but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.

The purpose of a real estate agent is to not only help you navigate the market and the negotiation process, but to walk with you every step of the way—from pre-qualification to closing. In short, they are there to help you make decisions that are always within your best interest.

Even so, while a great agent will work their hardest to make your life as easy as possible, if you still find yourself feeling slightly intimidated, try breaking the process down into four smaller stages.

1. DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND PREPARE. While most people assume that perusing real estate websites and visiting open houses is the first step to buying a home, a bit of preparation will help make the search process that much easier. To start things off, hire an experienced agent who is now only knowledgeable about the local area, but who also comes highly recommended and makes you feel comfortable.

From there, make a point to organize any personal paperwork that may be necessary to secure pre-approval on a loan. Your agent should be able to refer a reputable lender, so it will help to make sure you have records of all assets, debt, and household income.

2. SEARCH. At this point, since you’ve already settled upon an agent and have begun the process for pre-approval, you should have a clearer picture of which neighborhood you’d like to settle in and the size of home you can reasonably afford. Ask yourself questions such as what type of house you’d prefer (single-family home, town home, etc.), whether you need to be within a specific school district, or how far you can afford to be from work.

From there, you’ll likely do a portion of your searching online, so utilize the convenience of internet search parameters to eliminate homes that don’t fit your needs. Once you’ve found someplace suitable, make a point to visit the property at different times of the day to ascertain daily variations in the neighborhood.

3. PURCHASE. Once you’ve found a place that meets most of your needs, your agent will work with you to write an offer to purchase. While it’s likely that the seller will make a counteroffer, it shouldn’t take too long to settle upon a final price—at which time you’ll make an earnest money deposit to give the seller a sign of good faith.

Most purchase offers are contingent upon a home inspection, which will check for potential problems with the property. Should this inspection uncover problems that reflect significant material damage, you can either request that the seller fix the issue(s) before closing, renegotiate your offer, or withdraw it altogether (without penalty).

From here, while you may have already secured pre-approval for a loan, you’ll need to work with your lender to choose a suitable mortgage before the closing process can begin.

4. CLOSING. Your agent will help you select an appropriate closing date that will work for both you and the seller but, in order to avoid the need for temporary housing, it’s important to remember that you’ll probably want this date to coincide with the move from your current home. To make this process easier, it’s wise to consider working with the same agent when selling your home so that you can make sure the closings occur in tandem.

From there, your agent and lender should keep the lines of communication open during the closing process to ensure your understanding. Generally speaking, the average homebuyer will wind up paying about 3% of the home’s value in closing costs, so it’s important go into this final process with a knowledge of what’s involved.

Once the papers have been signed, the house is yours and the moving process can begin!

CONCLUSION

Clearly, purchasing a home is not without its challenges and stressors; however, by starting the process with a solid understanding of what’s to come and what is expected of you, as the buyer, you’ll be in a better position to handle each step with ease.

If you would like some assistance or want to learn more about how to set up an experienced and knowledgeable team of real estate and lending professionals, I’d love to hear from you.

Pam Evans | Hello Pam Evans Real Estate | www.HelloPamEvans.com | 678-778-6551