Steps to Buying a Home
Step 1: Find A Great Agent - CALL ALEXIS!
Make sure you call Alexis! A thousand plus clients agree - Alexis is personable, professional and gets people where they want to go. So reach out, call, text, email - let's have a conversation and make sure we are a good fit! In general, you should work with someone you are comfortable with, who you feel communicates well, who has market knowledge, experience and the bandwidth to serve you.
Many people choose their realtor first, who can then provide options for lenders and other professionals. You can always choose who to work with. Compare agents, lenders and vendors! Work with who you feel can provide you the best service and product.
Step 2: Choose a Lender
Alexis has lender referrals that are tried and true. Who provide not only competitive mortgage rates and low finance charges but who you can trust and provide excellent service. Checking in with more than one lender is never a bad idea and discussing the pro's and cons is helpful. You don't need to let multiple lenders check your credit, especially in a first conversation about what they offer and what you need. If several lenders 'hard pull' your credit, it is possible that would drop your credit score. Keep that in mind as you are having lender conversations.
You can get your full credit report free at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/. Lenders generally require a minimum of 620 credit score to qualify for a mortgage and prefer over 720 for better interest rates. There are programs for lower scores but with higher fees. Typically, the higher your score, the better loan rate you qualify for. Check your report for errors and if there are any, you can dispute them and it could help your score.
Step 3: Understanding Your Property Budget
Consider the monthly cost for your mortgage, insurance & taxes, if there are HOA dues, as well as future maintenance and update costs. Keep in mind your initial downpayment and several thousand additional dollars for closing costs. Get in touch for Alexis' Estimate on Closing Costs Woksheet.
There are many kinds of mortgages, some require little to no down payment and others 10% or 20% down. Interest rates fluctuate daily and depend on many factors. Two basic kinds of loans are fixed rate mortgages and ARM's (Adjustable Rate Mortgage). Fixed rate loans have the same interest rate throughout the life of the loan and ARM's typically have a lower introductory rate that change in future years depending on the market rate. An experienced loan expert can help you understand all of your options, closing costs, fees and pros & cons of different loan types.
Closing costs will be several thousand dollars and include things like finance charges, attorney fees, survey, escrow required by lender, inspections and more.
Step 4: Looking For A Property
The fun stuff! Make a list of the things you'll want in a home. How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you want? How much space, inside and out? How big do you want the kitchen to be? Do you want extra storage? A big yard for kids or pets? Is a garage important, proximity to schools, jobs, grocery, etc.? There is a lot to consider when we think about where we want to live. Get in touch for a list of questions to ask yourself & what you might want to consider.
Once we have a clear idea of your budget and start narrowing the vision on what you are looking for, we can talk about areas that will suit you. 20+ years of real estate sales experience comes in handy at this point. Next, we can start taking home tours!
It is never wasted time to go see properties! It often helps to cement different wants & needs and can bring things into focus you might not have thought of before. It's a process! People sometimes ask how many homes they should expect to see before a decision, but everyone is different in this regard. We just have to get started and see.
While we are touring homes and areas, we will continue to assess what you are seeing, likes and dislikes and narrowing your options. We are looking for all the red and green flags of a property, from the condition of improvements and slope of the land, to ownership history, environmental factors, disclosures, ages of systems and more. I am always looking out for potential pitfalls and exceptional qualities to point out.
Step 5: Making An Offer
Once we find the right property for you, we deep dive to find as much information about that property as possible. We make sure you are aware of what might affect the value of the property, estimate future capital expenses and that you have a solid understanding of the current market. We need to put together a strategic offer with all of this in mind. Knowing your goals & challenges and having a good perspective on the market are important.
Step 6: While Under Contract
Home inspections are buyers choice in NC, and in Alexis' opinion is that they are paramount for buyers! They are well-worth the money to ensure you know more about a property's condition and to help with repair negotiations.
Your lender will require an appraisal.
Closings are typically between 30 and 45 days from contract but can be less or more depending on the situation.
Repairs may be negotiated.
We have wonderful closing attorneys to refer people to.
Step 7: Getting to Closing
It's a process! And your team will be working to get you there. Your real estate agent, inspectors, attorney, lender, contractors and more are working together to get you to the closing table. Alexis will help keep everything organized and making sure you know what to expect.