Are you thinking about buying a house but aren’t sure how it works? In this episode of Naturally NWA, I’m going to walk you through every step of buying a property so you know exactly what to expect. I’ll explain how arming yourself with information will give you the best chance of snagging the home of your dreams.
Choosing Your Agent
As a homebuyer, you’re going to want to arm yourself with as much information as possible. That way, when you find the right house, you’re able to jump on it quickly. What will help you is to pick a real estate agent that can guide you through the process.
Over 87% of buyers are represented by a real estate agent. As a buyer, there is no cost to you and their only job is to look out for your best interests. Are you making a good move? Have you considered all aspects of your investment? Better yet, how does the process even work?
It’s your agent’s job to make sure that you understand all of that. Before you can even think about looking at properties, you first need to understand the market. I already understand the market, but
you need to learn it as well.
Financing And The Home Search
The second thing you want to do is to confirm your financing and get a lender you trust. Your agent should be able to refer you to the best lenders in the area. How you finance your deal is going to be extremely important, and you’re going to want to get all your ducks in a row before you start looking at properties. You should also have an idea of your downpayment and how much owning real estate is going to cost you before you start looking at homes.
Buying a new property comes with new surroundings. Part of your agent’s job should be to teach you more about the area. You might even have questions about schools, shopping, and even commute times to and from work. Use your agent as a resource. When you are buying your new house, you are also buying into a community. You want to make sure that the community serves your needs.
The home search process can take from one day to one year depending on what you’re looking for. Eventually, you’ll find a property and make an offer. Your agent’s job is to handle all negotiations until you get the price you need. And if your offer is accepted, you are now under contract.
Under Contract
While congratulations are in order, the process is not over yet. You still have a lot of work to do. This is the part of the process that you’ll do all your due diligence on the property itself. For example, you’re going to conduct an inspection within 10 business days to confirm your decision to buy the house. During this time, you’ll also apply for and secure financing.
The transaction will have to go through several facilitation steps. Once again, this is part of your agent’s job to stay on top of this for you. On average, the transaction should close in about 30 to 45 days from the time you get an offer accepted.
Making A Smart Purchase
I hope this gave you a good overview of the steps of buying a house. Of course, there are a lot of things that have to happen during that process. Overall, though, this is a very good idea of what you can expect when purchasing a new home.
Remember, don’t buy a house just for the sake of buying a house. Make a smart purchase and you’ll set yourself up to start building wealth in the future. I help people just like you buy real estate every day, and I would be happy to assist you. Also, if you have additional questions or are looking for something very specific, feel free to reach out to me.
You can also subscribe to my channel so you never miss an episode all about Northwest Arkansas. Stay tuned to the next episode of Naturally NWA to see what I feature next!