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Buying A Home

Regardless of if you are a first time home owner or looking for a change from your current home, buying a home can be very intimidating. That is why with my help, we can move together the process as partners who work together from the beginning to the end! I laid out an outline of what to typically expect in the homebuying process from the beginning to end but other things can come up and that is what I am here to assist you with!

Think about what you want in a home:
  • Number of bedrooms.
    • How many people will be living in your home?
    • Do you anticipate the number of people in the home to change in the future?
    • Do you need a bedroom for another purpose such as office?
  • Think about location.
    • What area do you want to live in? 
    • Do you want to be in a city, town or out in the country? 
    • Are you wanting acreage? 
  • Garages and outbuildings.
    • Do you want an attached garage, barn, etc?
  • Think About Financing:
    • How are you planning to pay for the home?
      • Cash
        • If you are planning to use cash, the seller likely will want proof of funds when accepting an offer or shortly after. Ensure that you have this lined up.
      • Mortgage
        • If you want to use this route, it is always good to get pre-qualified for a mortgage before starting your search. This will give you an idea of:
          • Your overall budget.
          • What your monthly payments will be.
          • How much you will need for a down payment.
          • Also, when getting pre-qualified, you generally can get locked in at an interest rate for a period of time while you look.
        • There are many mortgage options available to. You can talk to your bank, an online company or there are even mortgage brokers who live and work in our local area that are a great resource. If you would like options for mortgage professionals, feel free to reach out to me.
      • Rent To Own / Contract Sale
        • This is a way for a buyer without good credit to get into a home but it can be difficult to find homes available for contract sale. If you decide to go this route, ensure that you have a down payment and financial records available to show goodwill to a seller when making an offer.
      • Contingencies
        • Will you need to sell your current home before you can buy a home? This needs to be considered as some sellers will not want to wait for you to sell your current home before buying theirs.
  • Find the right agent
    • While I would love to be your agent, you have lots of options. It is always suggested to go with a Realtor, which is an agent that is a member of the National Association of Realtors. We are held to a higher standard and abide by a stringent Code of Conduct. 
    • Find an agent that is willing to work on your schedule. You may only be available on the evenings and weekends, you need someone that can be contacted on your schedule and that can show you homes on your schedule.
    • Find an agent that works in your area and is willing to travel as necessary. I am based in Linton but cover about a 60 mile radius of Linton which includes Terre Haute, Vincennes and Bloomington because I want to give top-notch service to my clients regardless of where they want to live!
  • Look at home listings
    • I like to have a conversation with my clients about what they are looking for in a home and I will send them suggestions as well as keep them updated on new listings that come onto the market.
    • I also suggest that my clients use a home search website such as Zillow.com or Realtor.com to get an idea of the listings available.
      • You can search these sites by zip code and then expand to a map to see homes available. You can filter by price, bedrooms, land size, and many more to see what is on the market.
  • Start looking at homes
    • When setting up a showing, it is easiest to have all of the decision makers present for the initial showing. While second ones can easily happen, getting everyone on the same page early is best. 
    • Let your agent know when you find a home that you would like to see and let them know when you would like to see it. It’s usually best to give several hours or a day to set it up because your agent will need to reach out to get permission and access information to set it up.
    • Be prepared to ask plenty of questions. Look at the home with an open mind and consider possibilities!
    • Please remember, that the home you are viewing belongs to someone else so always be respectful of the home, property and their possessions!

Find the right agent
  • While I would love to be your agent, you have lots of options. It is always suggested to go with a Realtor, which is an agent that is a member of the National Association of Realtors. We are held to a higher standard and abide by a stringent Code of Conduct. 
  • Find an agent that is willing to work on your schedule. You may only be available on the evenings and weekends, you need someone that can be contacted on your schedule and that can show you homes on your schedule.
  • Find an agent that works in your area and is willing to travel as necessary. I am based in Linton but cover about a 60 mile radius of Linton which includes Terre Haute, Vincennes and Bloomington because I want to give top-notch service to my clients regardless of where they want to live!
  • I like to have a conversation with my clients about what they are looking for in a home and I will send them suggestions as well as keep them updated on new listings that come onto the market.
  • I also suggest that my clients use a home search website such as Zillow.com or Realtor.com to get an idea of the listings available.
    • You can search these sites by zip code and then expand to a map to see homes available. You can filter by price, bedrooms, land size, and many more to see what is on the market.
  • When setting up a showing, it is easiest to have all of the decision makers present for the initial showing. While second ones can easily happen, getting everyone on the same page early is best. 
  • Let your agent know when you find a home that you would like to see and let them know when you would like to see it. It’s usually best to give several hours or a day to set it up because your agent will need to reach out to get permission and access information to set it up.
  • Be prepared to ask plenty of questions. Look at the home with an open mind and consider possibilities!
  • Please remember, that the home you are viewing belongs to someone else so always be respectful of the home, property and their possessions!

When you have found a home that you want to be yours, it is time to make an offer. There are some things to consider when making an offer:
  • Deciding what price to offer is important. You can offer below asking but remember that if you go too low, you could insult the seller.
  • Also, you will need to decide if you want to have a professional home inspection done. This is your choice and it will be at your expense.
  • Be prepared to provide your pre-qualification letter if you are using a mortgage, this will show the seller that you are qualified to buy the home.
  • Have some earnest money ready to provide. Typically, earnest money is at least $500 and can vary upwards. Some sellers will want earnest money to be 1% of the purchase price, so for a $200,000 home, you might want to offer $2000. 
  • Your agent will walk you through all of the fine details of the offer to get it right. They are professionals and want to assist you. That is often in writing the offer to both meet your needs and desires but to also make it appealing to the seller and easy for them to accept.
  • Your offer can be accepted as written.
  • The seller could counter the offer. If this happens you could:
    • Accept their counter offer.
    • Submit another counter offer.
    • Reject their offer.
      • Something to keep in mind, is each time you counter an offer, you give them the option to reject your offer. You must decide if what you want to counter for is worth the risk of losing the home.
  • Your offer could be rejected outright.
    • If your offer is rejected but the seller did not accept another buyer’s offer, you can change your terms and submit another offer if you would like.
  • Typically, a purchase agreement is written with an anticipated closing date of 30-45 days in the future. It can be quicker or can take longer but with the help of your agent, hopefully everything can stay on track!
  • The first thing after an accepted offer is getting the offer, now a purchase agreement, to your mortgage company. Typically the purchase agreement sets the amount of time that you have to apply for and get approved for your mortgage.
  • Second thing that will be done is that a title company will be contacted and the title paperwork will be started. The purchase agreement will specify whether the buyer or the seller will be ordering the title work.
  • Third thing is if you asked to have a professional home inspection completed, you will need to get that inspection ordered right away.
  • If you have chosen to get a home inspection, you and your agent will get an inspection report from the inspector. Expect this to be about 50 pages long but your agent can help you narrow down to what really matters. The inspector is going to review almost every aspect of the home. Typically the major things for consideration of major mechanical items as well as items affecting health and safety.
  • If from the inspection there are items that you would like to be repaired before going forward, you have the right to ask for those to be fixed.
    • Your agent will prepare a written response to the inspection for you to sign. It will clearly detail all items that you would like to have fixed.
      • The seller can accept to fix those items, counter with an offer to fix certain items or make a reduction in price of the home or can reject the response.
        • If the seller counters, you can accept or counter back.
        • If the seller rejects, they may provide a mutual release from the purchase agreement. You can at this time make another offer or choose to not have any repairs made and move forward. You can also choose to be released from the agreement.
  • If the seller is making repairs, you will have the right to inspect those repairs before closing.
  • After the items from the inspection response have been addressed, things will quickly start moving towards closing. Your agent will be an advocate to assist in getting to close as quickly and efficiently as possible.
    • There will not be a lot that needs done from you other than communication. If you get any updates from your bank or the title company, make sure to inform your agent. They will also be following up with everyone to keep things on track.
  • You will be asked to secure home owners insurance and set a start date for the date of closing.
  • As the closing date approaches, you can have the option to do a final walk-through of the home. The agreement states that the home should be in a similar condition as when you made an offer with the exception of normal wear and tear. Your agent will give you the option to walk through before closing. This can be especially important with vacant homes as things can happen without anyone noticing.
  • The closing will be scheduled at a time that the buyer and seller, their agents and the title company are all available. Typically a closing will take place at the title company’s place of business but can vary. 
  • At closing, you will sign all of the relevant documents to the transaction including mortgage documents, title transfer documents and more. There will be assistance with all of this.
  • If the home that you are purchasing has possession on the day of closing, you will be given keys. If you will be getting possession after a set amount of time, that will be arranged as well.

While you are now tasked with moving in and unpacking, you have a wonderful new home to make memories!

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