The Home Buying Process Explained
The decision to buy a home is the single most important decision you will ever make for your family. As such, the process can also be the most exciting. Whether you have bought a home before or you’re looking to buy your first, the In God’s Hands Realty Team will guide you every step of the way.
There are many factors to consider before making a decision. That’s why its critical to have all the available resources necessary to make a well-informed decision. With the help of the In God’s Hands Realty Team, we aim to make your home-buying experience as stress-free as possible.
When finding and purchasing a home, you will encounter the following steps:
1. Define Your Goals and Research Your Options
Because the home buying process is such a big step, education about the process is most important. This means clearly determining your reasons for buying and the type of home you desire. Because buying and financing a home are closely related, it also means assessing your current financial situation and determining your affordability.
Once these question are answered, you will be better positioned to research your housing and mortgage options as well as create an action plan and timelines for moving forward.
2. Contact the In God’s Hands Realty Team
Because buying real estate can be a complex matter with so many factors to consider, it is important to understand that every experience is different. Laws are often changing regarding financing and purchasing, and the experience and knowledge of Realtor® are different, it is very important to not allow someone else to taint your experience. The market forecast changes often causing home values to differ. A trusted team of professionals such as the In God’s Hands Realty Team, is of utmost importance.
When you hire us, we will guide you through the property search, financing, negotiation and transaction processes.
Our past client experiences are outstanding and have awarded us with a 5-star gold rating on Houston Association of Realtors.
3. Get Pre-Approved!
Getting pre-approved is of utmost importance before staring your home search. This process involves meeting with a lender and authorizing them to examine your current financial situation and current credit history. Once your situation is evaluated and accepted, the lender will provide you with a letter detailing your affordability and terms. At this time, the lender will also determine if you qualify for any special financing terms and loan programs.
4. Home Tour and Selection
The key to a successful home search is knowing exactly what you are looking for. This means distinguishing between “must-haves” and “like-to-haves”,
The In God’s Hands Realty Team has a customized mobile app for ease of home search. This GPS-driven app enables you to search for properties regardless of your location, catalog properties, view photos and tours, as well as send them to us through direct notification.
However, it is important to view homes in person. While property details may appear to be similar online, homes will differ in terms of layout, design, craftsmanship, and other fine details. Call us. We are ready to guide you on your home tour.
5. Making an Offer and Negotiating Terms
Now that you have found the home you would like to buy, its time to make an offer.
Your local real estate association, along with legal cancel, has developed the contracts that are used for transactions in your area. These contracts enable you to specify a sales price and include clauses for specifying various terms of purchase, such as the closing and possession dates, your earnest money deposit and option fee amounts, as well as other conditions.
Once you have written the offer with us, we will present it to the seller and seller’s representative for consideration. At that point, the process given that a home’s sales price is subject to supply and demand-will depend on the market statistics. Generally, the seller can accept your offer, reject it, or counter it to initiate the negotiation process.
Successive counter-offers, with deadlines for responding and meeting conditions, will be exchanged between you and the seller until a mutually-satisfactory pending agreement is reached or negotiations collapse.
6. Secure Your Financing
Once you have an accepted agreement with the seller, its time to go back to your lender to finalize your mortgage details so you can close the deal. This entails finalizing your down payment, interest rate, regular payment schedule and offer financial conditions associated with closing.
7. Close the Deal
You have now been fully approved and are ready to close the deal. Key steps to closing include:
*Getting a title search-a historical review of all legal documents relating to ownership of the property to ensure that there are no claims against the title of the property. It is also necessary to purchase title insurance in the event the records contain errors or mistakes in the review process.
*The final walk-thru-you will be given the chance to look at the home to make sure it is in the same condition as when you signed the sale agreement.
*The Settlement- typically, on closing day you will go to an escrow office to verify and sign all the paperwork required to complete the transaction. The settlement will include you paying your closing costs, legal fees, property adjustments, and transfer of taxes. At that point, you will receive the property title and copies of all documentation pertaining to the purchase.
