When looking for a homebuyer's checklist online, it's important to be aware that there are different types of checklists. There's the type of checklist that provides you with every detail of information that you should get when searching for just the right home. This kind of list won't allow you to overlook a single thing or make a mistake in this important process.
To illustrate, the list helps you to find out if a home has a workable floor plan and ample storage space. This type of checklist is similar to those used by an appraiser, who inspects a property carefully to learn its condition and judges it against others in the same market at similar values.
Here are the important steps to guide you through the process of buying a house:
1. Educate Yourself
In learning about every step involved in buying a house, the first thing to do is to educate yourself about it. Nowadays, this means to understand about what's involved, and to become knowledgeable about who the best real estate people are, how homes are doing in your market, the prevailing prices and so on.
2. Retain the Right Pros
Naturally, it makes sense to learn all you can before buying a house. You don't want to neglect to attend to important steps. To assist you in this process, you should retain the most highly regarded real estate pros available to ensure that you attend to everything. This means that item two on your list is to find a trustworthy real estate person, who knows your area and has listings of houses in that area. That professional will guide you carefully through the process step-by-step.
3. Become Pre-Approved for Financing
Clearly, you wouldn't want to start looking for a home and find one your first day and discover that you cannot make an offer because you haven't taken the time to be pre-approved for a mortgage. Your statement of assets and liabilities is another useful document to have with you.
4. Decide What Kind of Home You Want and the Price You Can Pay
When you're clear about the kind of house you want to buy, educate your real estate professional about every detail so you don't waste anyone's time looking at the wrong properties at the wrong prices.
5. Make an Offer
Once your real estate pro has educated you on the art of the deal, you will find a property and make an offer. This also requires that you sign a contract to buy. When or if you offer is accepted, you may need to put down a deposit. If your offer is not accepted, you might want to negotiate the sale (with the help of your real estate professional).
6. Make an Application for a Mortgage
This is usually when you go back to the mortgage company that pre-approved you. It's often a company that your real estate pro likes to refer. This is when the paperwork begins in earnest.
7. Make Arrangements for Home Inspection
Your real estate pro will help with this step too.
8. Determine if There are Existing Warranties
If there are warranties offered with the property, you should have your real estate pro learn what they are for and why they are offered. Find out the terms of these warranties. Appliance or air conditioning warranties may indicate that units are quite old. It's important to learn what it will cost to replace these units with new ones.
9. Purchase Homeowners' Insurance
It's important to purchase the right home insurance since it will protect you and your home.
10. Prepare for the closing
The closing is when you should have a closing agent or attorney present. Your real estate pro will help you make all the arrangements necessary for the closing.
11. Call the Movers
Do your homework here too by comparing prices and services; and making reservations for the moving company.
12. Secure final loan approval from lending institution.
Part of preparing for the closing is to secure final loan approval, but it's important enough to make it a step on its own. The reasons for this should be understood.
13. Hold last walk-through of the home.
If repairs needed to be done to the home, including termite treatments or repairs of any kind, you should have a final walk-through to determine that these things were completed according to your satisfaction.
14. Hold final closing and settlement.
Prepare yourself to sign many documents. Pick up a chilled bottle of bubbly, open and toast!
David DuPont is a realtor with The DuPont Group, a residential real estate firm in Marin County, California specializing in real estate in Marin County and Mill Valley, California real estate. David is a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) and has consulted more than 50 individuals and families in buying and selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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