Buying A Home • Chris Bower

Home Buying Tips

The steps to buying a house for the first time might seem complicated—particularly if you’re a home buyer trying to purchase real estate with no prior experience. Between down payments, credit scores, mortgage rates (both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate), property taxes, interest rates, and closing the deal, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

Thats where I come in! Let me take the hard work out of the home buying process for you. Below, I outlined the steps to buying a home; familiarize yourself with these steps then give me a call, email or text and I will get started working for you!

Step 1: Start saving for a down payment

Buying a new home usually requires a mortgage. In order to get a mortgage, you’ll need some sort of down payment. Ideally a down payment on a mortgage should be 20% of the home’s price to avoid added fees.

Step 2: Check your credit score

In addition to having a down payment, a first-time home buyer will need a decent credit score. The lender will use this info to decide whether or not to loan you money, as well as how much and at what interest rate.

Step 3: Get Pre-approved for a mortage

Your mortgage lender of choice will scrutinize your financial background and use this info to determine whether to loan you money, and what size monthly payment you can realistically afford.

Step 4: Find a real estate agent

Most buyers will want a great real estate agent—specifically an agent who will help them find the right houses, negotiate a great real estate deal, and explain all of the nuances of home buying along the way.

Look no further! I always operate with my client's best interests at heart, and I hold myself to the highest level of professionalism.

Step 5: Shopping for a home

As a home buyer, you can peruse thousands of real estate listings on sites such as realtor.com, zillow.com and redfin.com then ask your agent to set up appointments to see your favorites in person.

By filling out my home buying questionnaire, (Buyer Questionnaire) you can easily narrow down what your preferences are! This also allows me to constantly update you when homes that match your preferences hit the market!

Step 6: Make an offer

Found your dream home? Then it’s time to make an offer to the seller. Once you make me aware of the desire to buy, I will sit down with you and go over the agreement line by line.

Be prepared to write a check to the seller—it’s called “earnest money,” and it’s different than the down payment.

Step 7: Get a home inspection

A home inspection is where you hire a home inspector to check out the house from top to bottom to determine if there are any problems with it that might make you think twice about moving forward.

Step 8: Get a home appraisal

Even if you got pre-approved for your home loan, your lender will want to conduct a home appraisal. This is where the lender checks out the house to make sure it’s a good investment. It’s similar to a home inspection, but for your lender.

Step 9: Head to closing

Closing, also known as settlement or escrow, brings together a variety of parties who are part of the real estate transaction, including the buyer, seller, mortgage representative, and others.

Closing is the day you officially get the keys to your new home—and pay all the various parties involved. That will include your down payment for your loan, plus closing costs, the extra fees you pay to process your loan.