How to Shop for a Home
The first step in the home buying process is to find a good mortgage loan. One mistake many home buyers make is to find a home they love before they know what kind of loan they will qualify for. This can lead to disappointment when the consumer finds the home of their dreams only to find out that they can't get a loan big enough to pay for it. Educated home buyers should seek out a mortgage before they do anything. Figure out how much you can put down and then shop around and find a mortgage with the best interest rates and one that they will be able to afford. Just because you qualify for a huge mortgage does not mean you should take it. Make sure you will be able to keep up with the monthly payments. Sit down with at least 2-3 brokers and work out a mortgage that will get you in a home to your liking and one that you will be able to afford without putting too much stress on other parts of your budget.
Once you get the mortgage loan it is time to start looking at homes in your price range. Now that you have the financing in place you can begin to narrow your choices down to houses that you will actually be able to buy. Start researching areas where you would like to live. Figure out what is important to you in terms of schools if you have kids, local resources, proximity to retail shops and restaurants, and features that are suited to your desired lifestyle. You should also figure out how much space you will and how big of a place you want. Once you narrow this down you can start looking through MLS listings if you want to do it on your own or talk to a buyers real estate agent. Agents can provide an excellent benefit but they will increase your costs. Once you have narrowed your choices down begin visiting open houses.
When you have decided on a house you are interested in it is time to get an inspection. Inspections are extremely important because they can find problems with the house that you may not have noticed. Many times the sellers will have already had an inspection. If that is the case you should request the report so you can review it. It is also a good idea to talk to the inspector and do some research to find out if he/she is reputable and experienced. If you are not comfortable with the seller's inspection report you may want to hire your own inspector. Make sure you hire a reputable home inspector who is qualified to check everything in the house. If there are problems that show up and you still want the house you can make arrangement with the seller to either reduce the price so you can have the problems fixed or ask the seller to fix the problem before you buy.
Once your bid has been accepted and you are ready to close on the home you will need to get a title agency so you can transfer the title of the house. Mortgage brokers and attorneys will recommend a title company to you but it is up to you whether you want to use them or someone else. Consumers are allowed to choose their own title agency and should exercise that right as it could save you quite a bit of money at closing. There are many title companies out there. Many are traditional title companies but there are new title agencies like My Closing Space, which are marketed direct to consumers and offer substantial discounts because they are work independently of any brokers or attorneys. Do your research and find a company you are comfortable with in terms of price and customer service.
After all of the title work is done it is time to go to the closing. You will sit down with the seller, mortgage broker, real estate agent, title rep, and anyone else involved in the process to sign all of the necessary documents (there are a lot of them but knowing you are going to move into your dream home makes it all worthwhile). Any payments will be taken care of at this time as well. Once closing is done you are now the proud new homeowner and you can begin thinking about everything you need to do for the big move.
Related Tags: real estate, home shopping, buy house
Mark Pilatowski is a title industry insider and has followed the litigation surrounding the title industry for the past few years. Because of the problems with other title companies he joined the team at http://www.myclosingspace.com. My Closing Space offers Title Insurance and closing services direct to the consumer without the junk fees and kickbacks that other title companies charge.
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