9 Steps to Buying a Home
Getting started with your first home-buying experience can be confusing and outright intimidating. The Myles Group prepared a quick how-to to kick-start your journey and make sure you’re working towards a successful purchase.
- Getting Acquainted With the Right People
There’s no reason to keep things to yourself. Let The Myles Group help you by providing you with an agent that will be there to assist you through the whole process and connect you with the right people, ensuring a smooth experience for all parties involved. - Getting Yourself Pre-Approved
Once you’ve gotten acquainted with a trusted lender, they will work with you to help you understand the different financing options available to you and to set expectations on price range and budget. They will run credit checks, verify your monthly income, assets, and debt-to-income ratio to determine how much you can borrow. Once they’re done, you will have a “Pre-Approval” letter that will serve as an assurance to potential sellers. - Finding the Right Home
Your agent will start giving you information on homes that meet the criteria you’ve provided, and work with you on properties you’d like to see, and even provide you details on properties they’ve found that have yet to be listed. - Providing a Suitable Offer and Negotiation
Once you’ve found a suitable home, it’s time to make an offer. After a thorough market research has been done and upon considering other factors, the agent will provide you with a suitable offer and start negotiating to ensure that your offer has the best chance of being accepted. - Getting the Property Inspected
Once your offer is accepted, your agent will connect you with a host of qualified and experienced inspectors to choose from. This is a necessary step to ensure there are no underlying problems that could jeopardize your investment in the property. Once the inspection is complete, your agent may renegotiate if problems have been identified that require additional work. Normally, your agent will negotiate a 7-10 day period where amendments or cancellations can happen if anything notable should come up during the inspection. - Getting Your Home Insured
Once the inspection has passed and any additional work has been completed, then it is time to contact your insurance company who will reach out to your lender regarding policy details. Payment for the first year premiums will be incurred at closing with the Title Company. - Survey and Appraisal of Your Property
If you are getting a loan on the property, an appraiser will be sent to give his/her independent assessment of how much the property is worth. The appraiser will have the final word on whether the property you are buying is worth the contract price. If the property does not appraise for the sales price there will be several avenues for discussion on what happens next. You may also be required to get a survey of the property. The survey will be a depiction of the property boundaries and the dimensions of the structures within. - Preparing for Final Approval
Your lender will start to finalize the paperwork on your loan. You may have to provide additional items and documents to ensure a clean and efficient closing. The lender may require details of any major purchases, new debts, or lowering of cash reserves and income verification as these issues may affect the final approval. Once the approval goes through, all items will then be submitted to the Title Company where your closing will take place. - Closing
At the Title Company, you will have to sign all the required documents. Once all parties are done, the bank will be notified and funding will take place.
Congratulations on your new home!