Purchasing a new home may have you climbing the walls, but with our help and the tips we provide below, you should be well on your way to a stress-free home purchase.
Take a few minutes to read over the 8 simple steps to owning your home:
Researching & Budgeting
Before you begin home shopping, it helps to figure out your budget. That way there are no surprises later on, and you can fully enjoy home ownership rather than look at it as an overwhelming burden. To determine your purchasing power, you need to consider the following things such as monthly income, monthly debts, down payment amount, loan closing costs, and your credit history.
Determing Your Price Range
Pre-qualifying for a particular home purchase loan amount helps your real estate agent focus your home search so you only look at homes that fit within your price range. In fact, many real estate agents require either a pre-qualification letter or a certificate of pre-approval before showing you a home. You can pre-qualify in a couple of minutes by speaking with one of our mortgage specialists, or by applying right here online. You won't have to supply any supporting documentation until you actually start the home loan process.
Home Purchase Pre-Approval
A pre-approval certificate is the best way of demonstrating your ability to purchase a home. Pre-approval offers are also given stronger consideration by a seller than pre-qualification letters. To issue you a pre-qualification certificate, your mortgage specialist will ask you for documentation such as W-2 forms, paycheck stubs, and bank account statements, and then run your credit report to establish credit worthiness. Once that's complete, and everything checks out okay, your letter can be in your hands so you can submit the best offer for your next home.
Create a Wish List For Your Home
To ensure that your new home meets your needs, we've created a checklist to help you identify and prioritize features you want. With this checklist, you can also organize all the key people involved in your home purchase process.
Search For a Home
Now we get to the fun part - searching for your ideal home! You can browse the homes for sale at various online websites, in the classified section of your local newspaper, visit open houses, or find a real estate agent. A real estate agent not only has access to homes not always advertised in the paper, but will help you locate homes that meet your exact price, size and other criteria.
Make an Offer on a Home
Typically, the homebuyer or real estate agent will present an offer to the seller or their representative that includes the following information:
- The proposed offer price
- Seller concessions (if applicable)
- Financing contingencies (if applicable)
- Home inspection contingencies (if applicable)
- A specific outline of what is to be included in the sale of the home
- The "earnest money" deposit amount to be tendered with the offer
After the seller reviews your offer, it will either be accepted, rejected, or turned into a counter-offer. Any change to an offer is considered a counter-offer. An offer does not become a contract until both you and the seller (including all parties to the transaction) accept it. After acceptance, you and the seller will sign a home purchase agreement to finalize the deal.
Lock-In Your Rate
After signing a home purchase loan agreement, you're ready to lock-in an interest rate. This freezes your interest rate and protects you against market fluctuations for a specific time period.
Closing
After locking-in your rate, your team of mortgage specialists will go to work to close your home loan in conjunction with all third-party vendors. A processing specialist will schedule an appraisal and make certain that your file is complete and ready for final underwriting review. While all of this is going on, your escrow and title companies are working to gather the proper paperwork and approvals. Once all escrow conditions are met, your home loan is ready to fund, record, and close. The home is yours! |
