The Steps
to Home Ownership
1. Are you ready?
Have you done your homework? Use the Internet. Visit www.realtor.com
and www.homestore.com to
obtain enormous amounts of information. You must plan! Do you know
what you want? Why do you need to move? How soon do you need to
have it? The more you know the more likely you are to get what you
want.
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2. Get a REALTOR.
A realtor is a licensed professional who belongs to the National Association
of REALTORS and is qualified to help you with your home buying needs.
Ask friends, relatives or local business people whom they would recommend.
If they have had a good experience they will let you know whom to stick
with. REALTOR is a trademark designation. Not everyone who sells real
estate is a
REALTOR.
3. Get Loan Pre-approval.
Pre-approval means you have met with a loan officer, your credit files
have been reviewed and the loan officer believes you can readily qualify
for a given loan amount with one or more specific mortgage programs. It
should be shown to your REALTOR when bidding on a home. It demonstrates
your financial strength and shows you have the ability to go through with
a purchase. This information is important to sellers since they do not
want to accept an offer that is likely to fail because financing cannot
be obtained.
4. Look at homes.
Meet with your REALTOR and review your wish list. Know what you want within
your pre-approval range. Number of bedrooms? Number of baths? Fireplace?
Minimum square footage? School district? Usually it is helpful if you
can get addresses to do a drive by before going to look inside. If you
don’t like the neighborhood or location, don’t go to look
at the house. Check out other area listings.
5. Choose the home you like. It’s that simple.
6. Make an offer.
Your REALTOR and attorney will help you. The REALTOR will prepare your
contract and submit it for your attorney’s review. Once accepted,
the work has just begun. The contact then goes to the bank with your loan
application and an appraisal is ordered. An appraisal is done in order
to assign a value to a Property. If the appraised value is not equivalent
to what your application and/or contract calls for, you probably will
not get the loan. This is in your best interest. It help to protect you
from purchasing a property that is not worth the amount the seller is
selling for.
7. Get Insurance.
This will be required by your lender to protect your asset. They will
help to guide you with regard to the amount needed. You will want to review
your personal belongings and make sure the contents of your home are also
protected in case of fire or other disaster.
8. Closing.
Usually 45-60 days into this process you will go to a closing. You will
close your loan with the bank based upon the documentation they have compiled
in the last 45 days. Included is your application, your verification of
employment, asset review, appraisal of purchase property and promise to
pay documents. Once you close with the bank, you close with the seller
of the property. You give the selleithe money. You get the keys to the
property.
9. What’s next?
a. You have just made the most
important investment you could ever make. You will want to protect it
by helping it to maintain its value. Keep it freshly painted. Keep the
gutters clean so water can run away from the house not back up into it.
Take care of problems as soon as they arise, do not let them snowball.
b. Protect your documents. Keep the deed, title or abstract
(history of your property) in a safe place. Preferably a safe deposit
box at the bank.
c. Secure your belongings. Things that belong with the
house should stay with the house.
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