How to buy a house

There are many reasons that people choose to look for a new house.  Those reasons can range from getting a new job to just wanted a vacation home somewhere or something in between.  When you decide to start looking for a house there a few good simple steps on what you need to do. This is just the basic plan so you know what you need to do and when you should do it.

1.  Before you even go looking for a home, you need to go to your bank or mortgage broker and do a pre qualification.  This is a simple and quick estimate of your income and debt to asset ratio.  What you get is a very accurate ballpark figure telling you the maximum loan amount that you could get.  Also ask for a list of items you need to get together to finish the loan like pay stubs, tax return, proof of employment, or whatever is needed.

2.  Spend some time looking for the general area you want to live such as what city in a metroplex or what side of town.  This also includes doing some checking on statistics, crime levels, available stores, and what type of people live there.

3.  This is optional, get a realtor and have them help you.  Depending on your experience and goals, you might not need or want one.  A majority of the time it’s a good idea.

4.  Next look at houses in your range and go see them.  You kind of have to go do this one just so you can see what you like.

5.  When you find a house that you want to buy, you make an offer.  This is a conditional contract saying you are willing to pay X amount of money for this property.  The seller can accept it, reject it, or make a counter offer.  The offer is a legal contract.

6.  Conclude negotiating the contract is the next part.  This includes items you want included like a washing machine, price changes and everything else.

7.  Apply for the loan.  This is where you go through the real loan application and the lender checks to see if they will finance the loan.  Be prepared to jump through some hoops.

8.  Get the house inspected by a licensed inspector, check everything out you can about the property.  Don’t buy broken things that you don’t know about.

9.  The house will get appraised, probably through the lender.

10.  The lender does their thing and you find out when they will fund the loan.

11.  You go to the closing and sign final papers and deeds.  The money is transferred and you get the keys to your home.

Good thing this is not a complicated process.  This list is a very basic idea of the house buying process.  The length of time that this can go is anywhere from a few days to years.  Most people seem to go through the process in about 3-6 months if they are very serious about buying a house.  It’s important to know what’s going on and what should be happening next when your looking for a home.  This makes the process much easier and less stressful. 

If your completely in the dark, your just asking for a horrible home buying experience when it shouldn’t be.  I didn’t say it wouldn’t be tough or long, just that it should not be terrible.  If you stay on top of things, you will have a great homebuying experience and will probably get an excellent property.