Home Buying Process

If you are considering buying a home it is helpful to know what to expect and to have a timeline of events a step by step guide to the home buying process.

The first thing you must do if you want to buy a home is determine if you can financially afford or are even credit and income qualified to buy a home. You should also check and see if you are qualified for any state or local juridiction first time home buyer programs or grants. For more information on first time home buyer programs you can visit www.marylandnewhomepurchase.com

You should review your monthly finances and debts and determine how much of a mortgage payment you can reasonably afford to pay each month. You should then contact a lender/bank/mortgage broker and ask them to do a loan prequalification for you to determine if you are currently eligible for a mortgage loan to buy a home. If so, they will let you know for how much of a loan you qualify for. If you are not currently qualified they can let you know why and offer you suggestions on how to become qualified at a later date. If you are currently qualified then it would be a good idea to contact a Buyers Realtor at this time.

A Buyers Realtor can be of great assistance to you in your quest to buy a home. They will help you find, negotiate, handle all of the required paperwork to buy a home. A Buyers Realtor is paid by the seller through the sellers portion of real estate commissions and not by you.

Once you find the home that you want to buy your Realtor will help you put in an offer on the house. There will be a period of negotiations at this point as you and the seller try to reach an agreement on a deal for the house. Price will be negotiated, items in the house such as fixtures, appliances, etc. can also sometimes be negotiated. If the seller will pay all or a portion of your share of the closing costs can also be negotiated. If you and the seller come to agreement on the purchase details then you will both sign the purchase contract and you are on your way to securing the purchase of the home.

Once you have a signed purchase contract it is wise at this point to get a home inspection. Make sure your purchase contract has an inspection addendum in it before you sign all documents. In that case, any issues found by the inspector can be negotiated to be fixed or replaced at the sellers expense. If the seller is not willing to do so and that is a deal breaker for you having the inspection contingency will allow you t0 walk away from the deal without repercussions.

 If all is well after the home inspection it is time to focus on getting your loan approved for the lender prior to your settlement date. Make sure to provide all documents requested by your lender in a timely manner. Each day delayed by you in providing these documents could be a day delayed in meeting your agreed to settlement date. Your lender will send all documents to the loan processor and then the underwriter. Each will perhaps ask you for additional documents in the process to get yoyur loan approved.

Your lender during this time will order an appraisal on the property which must be paid by you in advance. The appraisal will determine the true market value of the home you are attempting to buy. The lender will only lend enough money to cover the actual appraised value of the home minus any required down payment on your part. If the home appraises formore than the purchase price that is a good thing as you have a contract on a home buying it for less than it is valued it. If the home appraises for less then the purchase price the the seller will have to cancel the contract or you will have to pay for the difference between the loan amount and the purchase price of the home.

Now it is just a waiting game. As soon as the lender gives you the final loan approval you can just await the settlement date. On the settlment date you and the seller will meet with the settlement officer and sign all of the required paperwork to complete the purchase. Once you complete the closing paperwork you will receive the keys to your new home.