Buyer's Center

5 Steps to Buying a Home

Once you have decided on the home that is right for you, you will again meet with Steve to make an offer on your new home!

Decisions to be made during this stage:

Price you will be offering, which may be influenced on the type of loan program you have selected.

• Earnest money.
• Amount of time you will give the sellers to accept your offer.
• What you are prepared to offer in the event of a counterproposal. Steve will assist you in negotiating the best price.
• When you want to close and move into your new home.

Once the offer has been accepted by the seller, you are now under contract. Some of the steps you will now complete include:

1. Making a formal loan application, tying the property address to your credit package.
2. Do not make any major purchases while awaiting for loan approval. Major purchases include a vehicle, boat, etc.
3. Steve will assist you in arranging for a professional home inspection.
4. You will receive results of the home inspection. Once you receive these results, you will have three options available to you. Steve will help you in determining the best option for you, and will assist you in submitting a written request to Seller to correct said items, if applicable.
   
Buyer options regarding home inspection items:


Take the property “As-Is” Ask Seller to correct items you feel are necessary Terminate the contract

If option #2 is chosen, the Seller will also have three choices:


Complete some of the requested home inspection items Complete all of the requested home inspection items Complete none of the requested home inspection items Steve will assist you in successfully negotiating your inspection results.

5. You will receive the result of your Title search to ensure the Sellers can give you clear title. See Title Insurance for further information.
6. Provide all necessary Buyer information required by Lender, and return to Lender.
7. Await the results of the appraisal, scheduled by the Lender.
8. Begin making moving arrangements (see Steve’s Preferred Vendors section for moving company information), or begin packing up items you will not need prior to your move.
9. Contact your insurance agent to arrange for homeowners insurance.
10. If you have school age children, work with their current school to arrange for school transfers. Their new school will be able to assist with registration.
11. Begin mailing out address changes.
12. Begin arranging transfer of utilities, and connection of cable, telephone, etc. (see Steve’s Moving Center for phone numbers and contact information).
13. Work with your Lender to complete any final mortgage details. Steve will be in contact with your lender weekly, sometimes daily, to ensure that your closing date is on target.
14. Steve and his team will arrange the time and place of closing, based on your availability, and will send you written notification of your closing date and time with directions to your closing location.

View Buyer's Flow Chart

Note: Occasionally the purchase of a property will be time compressed, or will take an extended period of time. Steve has found that generally the order of events when buying a home will remain in the same general order as listed in the Buyer Flow Chart, though time frames may vary.