What Are The 12 Steps to Buy?
1. Get pre-approved with a lender - Their job is to let you know how much you can afford to spend and what it might take to get your loan approved. They are essentially your financial GPS and helps you navigate the rough waters of credit, income, debt and underwriters.
2. Meet with Realtor - to determine your needs. What are your wants, needs, hopes and desires in a home?
3. Tour properties - sometimes finding the right house doesn't take a long time. Sometimes it could even be the first house you see! After your initial consult to determine your needs and wants we arrange with your schedule to tour properties. Sometimes that's after work during the week, or weekends or during the day. Whatever works for you!
4. Make an offer- making an offer on a house seems really scary but it's really the first step to acquiring what will be your home. My job as your Realtor is write a contract to ensure you will not only get the home you want but also maximize your protection as a buyer.
5. Negotiate- sometimes an offer gets accepted right away, sometimes there are changes that get made. That becomes a negotiation. The contract is not final until everything is accepted between both parties.
6. Mutual Acceptance - when everything on the contract has been mutually accepted between both parties it is called Mutual Acceptance. All of our contractual deadlines and obligations begin upon that date of acceptance.
7. Open Escrow - escrow is the third party handling the closing of the sale between the buyer and the seller. Once we have a mutually accepted contract, that contract along with your earnest money gets opened at escrow. It's like opening a bank account - they deposit your money and they proceed toward closing.
8. Inspection - your inspection is a key element to a successful purchase. A home inspection is encourage as it's one of your protections a buyer. I can provide you with a list of great home inspectors and even arrange for the inspection to take place. As your Realtor, I will be present at all inspections as well. Should there be any items that need to be repaired by the seller that opens up a new negotiation.
9. Appraisal - once the inspection has been completed and any/all repairs have been agreed to the appraisal goes to the home on behalf of the bank. The house has to appraise at the price agreed to on the offer or higher or the bank won't lend the money.
10. Signing - once the lender has the appraisal at value and all of the necessary items requested of you by the underwriter, then the loan documents will be sent to escrow. Once escrow has the loan docs they will call you to arrange a signing. When you go to escrow you are signing your loan documents and transferring any/all down payment money needed, as per the lender.
11. Funding - once the documents have been signed by both the seller and buyer and any/all down payment monies have been collected, the lender will release the remainder of money to escrow. That is when the loan has been fully funded.
12. Recording - recording takes place at the county courthouse. Once escrow receives the funds from the lender they will then release for recording numbers. Once recording numbers have been received by escrow then your sale is officially closed and it is now officially YOUR HOME!