Katie's Real Estate Blog: Buying A First Home

BUYING A FIRST HOME

Buying a home for your first time or your 10th time; you would think it would get easier. My husband and I are back in the process of buying again too and boy, it's so much more fun to help others buy their homes than it is to buy my own. Oh the stress!!!! I remember and this experience will once again help me to remember the pain of all of my cute clients as well!

The first time or the 10th time, however, the steps are the same. Let's review...

Step 1: Talk with the lender. You will need to get pre-qualified (or even better, pre-approved) by a lender. So to find out how much house you are qualified to buy, start here. If you aren't sure if you're ready to buy a house, start here. Most lenders have great credit repair services that they will offer you for free and they will help you get ready to buy that house! Need a referral, call us today and we'll be glad to get you in contact with some of the best lenders out there!

Step 2: Pick your real estate agent. Not all agents are created the same! At the very least, find an agent with at least a few successful deals under their belts and have a good working knowledge of the market you want to buy in. Need a good list of interview questions (yes, we are willing to answer them for you too), contact me and I'll send them over to you with our answers already filled in.

Step 3: Have a thorough "Buyer's Consultation" with your agent. Be sure that everyone is on the same page as to what you are looking for and what price point you want to stay at. Nothing is worse than being shown houses that you fall in love with only to find that you can't afford them. Your agent should prepare a list of homes that meet your search criteria and explain to you how they work so you know what to expect.

Step 4: Get out there and get looking! You shouldn't have to look at 300 homes to find the right one. With good communication, this should be a fun and relatively quick process to find a great house that fits your needs.

Step 5: Write a winning offer. If you want to know about how to do this, you'll have to come and talk to me. (I'm not sharing all my trade secrets in a blog!!)

Step 6: Go through the escrow process. Again, your agent will be guiding you through this process. Inspections, due diligence, appraisals, title research, HOA information, etc. The list goes on and one and you will definitely want a great team helping you through this.

Step 7: CLOSING! Oh the day you've been waiting for!!!

So why this is a bit of a simplified list, this gives you a general idea of the process of buying a home, either for the first time or the 10th time.

With all this being said, if you would like to know more, we would invite you to our Home Buyer's Seminar this month. Click here to get more information on this seminar and to register. Friends and family members are invited as well, so feel free to share the information.