Six Steps To Know When Buying Your First Home

Willy’s Step by Step Guide to Buying a Home

1. Find a Realtor

I’m here, so we’re all set on this.

2.  Get pre-approved

This is a letter from a lender saying that you’re been pre-qualified for a mortgage.  This shows buyers that your serious and can afford to purchase a home.  You can shop around, and you’re not required to take out a mortgage from the same lender that pre-approved you.

2.  Put in an Offer

Now that you’ve found a house you love and want to call home, it’s time to put in an offer.  Work with your Realtor to determine what you think is a fair price that you’re willing to pay for the home.  While you never want to over pay, keep in mind this is first your home, and second an investment.  The offer outlines what you’re willing to pay, what you’d like included or excluded and a timeline for transfer of the property.

3.  Home Inspection

In the offer, you’ll indicate whether or not your buying the home is contingent on a satisfactory inspection. It’ll be up to you to hire and schedule the inspection. Your Realtor can give you a list of local inspectors but cannot make any recommendations. If the inspection isn’t what you were expecting, you can either re-neogtiate your offer or back out completely. In rare cases, buyers will forgo the inspection.  It can be a pretty big risk, but is enticing to sellers.

4.  Purchase and Sale Agreement

The purchase and sale agreement, P&S for short, outlines the terms of the sale after an offer has been accepted.  The P&S lays out the final agreed upon price, closing date, legal description of the property and all the necessary details for purchasing a home or property.  In Massachusetts, the Purchase and Sale Agreement needs to be reviewed by a lawyer before signing.  At signing, earnest money is due.  This is a good faith deposit, usually 5-15% of the total sale price of the home.

5.  Commitment Date

The commitment date is the deadline for which the buyer has agreed to secure financing.  This is not applicable for cash offers.  Generally, you give yourself 30 days from the the signing of the purchase and sale to acquire financing.  Your lender will hire a lawyer to provide a title search and potentially have the home appraised.

6.  Closing

Now that you’ve got a mortgage secured, you can close!  This is the big day you’ve been waiting for.  You hand over the rest of the money in exchange for the deed.  The property is officially yours!  Just like the P&S, a lawyer needs to put together the documents.  In Massachusetts, only a lawyer can write a contract.  Your lawyer will be present with you at the closing and notarize the contract.

If you have any questions about this article, or real estate in general, let me know! You can email me at willy.charleton@nemoves.com or call/text me at 617 528 8461.