Buy a home

I remember when I purchased my first home, it was one of the most fulfilling and memorable things I’ve done in my lifetime. Now two homes later with investment property under my belt, the love of homes drew me into the real estate industry.

Dreams do come true; here are some things to consider as your purchasing your first, second, or third or any home.

Buying a house takes time, and you want to make sure you get the best deal to stay in your home to build generational wealth and not be forced out due to making an emotional decision.

The Buying Process

  1. Save for a down payment
  2. Find a realtor
  3. Get pre-approved for a mortgage
  4. Go house hunting
  5. Submit an offer
  6. Get a home inspection
  7. Close on your home

Save for Down payment

Evaluate your financial health. You don’t want to be house broke. Save for your down payment, the rule of thumb is at least 3% of the sale price of the home, know your credit score, and have consistent income that has been steady for the past 12-24 months.

Find a Realtor

Realtors are everywhere, we’re a dime a dozen no matter what city or state. What you want is someone who is going to offer you and your family a high quality of customer excellence; someone who will serve your entire family well. Someone who understands how to negotiate the best deal for you, someone who is motivated to sell your home fast and someone who will listen to you, your needs and explain the hard things in a simple way in which you best understand, someone who will place your home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for exposure to millions of potential buyers; and lastly, someone who will provide a targeted strategy to sell your home fast.

Remember you’re hiring a Realtor, they will get compensated at the end of the transaction. Just like you would interview and obtain references to hire someone to remodel your home or any other service you’re paying for, you want to do the same for a Realtor. The last thing you want to do is regret having to pay them at the end of the transaction because they didn’t serve you well.

If you’re in the DC metro area, I’m happy to serve you or refer you to a trusted professional who I know will serve you well.

Schedule a Session to discuss your Real Estate Needs

Get pre-approved for a mortgage

Before you look at any house, get pre-approved. You’d hate to fall in love with a home and then be upset with your realtor when you realize your home buying power doesn’t stretch as far as you’d like. Once you’ve been pre-approved, your Realtor will then partner with your lender and pull together the properties within your buying power.

Go house hunting

This is the fun part of the process. Based on what’s important to you, view all the properties within that scope. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t find what you’re looking for. Request that your realtor place you on their mailing list for you to be notified when new properties hit the market.

Submit an Offer

This is when you’ve found the house of your dreams and you want to buy it. Your Realtor will put together the necessary paperwork to submit to the seller that you’re interested in purchasing their home.

At this time you will be asked for Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), which is normally at least 1% of the purchase price of the property. This lets the seller know that you’re a serious buyer. Just because you’ve placed an offer on the property doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed the home. This is when the negotiations really start and the status of the market can dictate whether it’s going to be competitive or not. Pack your patience and wait for a response from the seller.

Home Inspection

This is another upfront cost that is anywhere between $250-$1,000 depending on the size of the home.

Don’t be alarmed when you see the results. The home inspector will note a lot of things, just know that everything doesn’t need to be taken care of. You want to make sure the seller takes care of the major things: i.e., termites, water damage, mold, structural, and mechanical.

Submit the major findings to the seller to fix and wait for a response and negotiate.

Closing

Congratulations, this is the time where you’ll sign your life away!!!! Nothing is final until the lender has confirmed the final loan, cleared you to close and all documents have been signed and the keys have been turned over.  This process will typically take no more than 2 hours.