So, you want to buy a house—now what?

The first time buying a home is an emotional, exciting, and also exhausting experience. You may also be wondering along the way—what am I missing? This is a common question. Here’s how the buying process works from start to finish.

•  Do some preliminary online searching. Check into what homes are selling for in the areas you’re interested in to give you an idea of what you’re looking for. This will help later on when communicating your wish list with your Realtor.
• Get pre-approved. To get pre-approved for a mortgage you’ll need to get some paperwork ready: pay stubs, W-2s, bank account statements, tax returns for the past two years, credit, and rental history. Start with your current bank, but make sure you check out competitor lenders as well – you might get a better mortgage loan rate by shopping around. Also, consider the amount your lender approves you for as a maximum – stay in a range that is comfortable for you.
• Find an agent. A good real estate agent will help you navigate the process every step of the way. Your friends and family will be great sources—see if any of your trusted contacts have someone they recommend.
• Look at homes. Be patient at this stage. Your real estate agent may show you a variety of homes to get your reaction on features they think you’ll like. Give your agent detailed feedback so they can show you homes that are perfectly suited to you. Sometimes, this process can take months... So be patient.
• Make an offer. Once you’ve found your dream home, you may want to move quickly. Your agent will guide you on a reasonable first offer to start negotiations based on market conditions. Also, make sure you consider closing costs which could account for 3-5% of the home price.
• Negotiate. Be prepared to negotiate with the seller a few times on price and selling conditions. Your real estate agent will be your advocate here and try to get you, their client as much as possible for your money while being fair and respectful to the seller and their real estate agent.
• An accepted offer. If you reach an agreement and your offer is accepted, you’ll make a deposit to an escrow account to show good faith. Escrow is where the seller takes the house off the market with the contractual expectation that you’ll purchase the house - provided you don’t find any serious problems during the inspection.
• Do a home inspection. Even if the home appears to be flawless, there’s no substitute for having a professional inspector review the property for the quality, safety, and general condition of your potential home. You don’t want to be surprised with a home that needs a lot of unexpected repairs. If the inspection reveals undisclosed serious defects, you can negotiate further to have the seller make repairs, discount the selling price, or withdraw your offer and get your deposit money back.
• Closing. When your negotiations with the seller are successful, and the inspection came back clean, you should be ready to close. At your closing, you’ll spend about an hour signing lots of paperwork. Now is the time to celebrate... You will be handed the keys to your NEW HOME!